Chronicles of a Former Cammy Do Girl
by The Deb of Night
Summary: What happened to the legendary fledgling after the incident at the Ventrue Tower? The story continues in Chronicles of a Former Cammy Do Girl. A Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines Continuation.
1. Prologue: Explosive Endings

-- After some time of taking a break from this story due to personal events that have taken place and basically life in general taking over, it's back once again. Originally this story was written under a different pen name, MyDarkElysium, I have since changed to The Deb of Night. I will be updating periodically and as often as possible, so please enjoy.

A full disclaimer for this story and more information about it can be found on my profile.

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Had he known that allowing her to live would have been his undoing it is very possible that Sebastian LaCroix would have killed her that night, risked going to war with the Anarchs even sooner and then stepped back and allowed the Kuei-Jin to dispatch them. However much like trusting Ming Xiao, his decision had not been a wise one as now he was about to pay the ultimate price.

For Shayne Emerson this was revenge. Revenge for the sire that she had never known and could no longer remember his face, revenge for all the hell that LaCroix and the Camarilla had put her through for a two thousand year old conversation piece, and revenge for ordering a Bloodhunt on her for a crime that she didn't commit. There was so much the no good baby faced Prince who was now on his hands and knees before had put her through, and now he would have his sarcophagus only it would be the last thing that he saw.

Reaching out she slid the well placed letter opener across his throat, listening to the ripping sound of flesh that filled the now silent room. The man couldn't even have the decency to die with out annoying her, still babbling about ruling over the city and demanding that she hand over the key to the Ankaran Sarcophagus. If he wanted it than he could have it for all she cared, after all she had been warned from the beginning way on the beach in Santa Monica not to open it. Therefore the young Brujah wasn't planning on opening it; instead she tossed the key down on the ground and turned pivoting out on her heels.

Pausing at the door she glanced back to see Sebastian LaCroix dragging himself across the marble flooring in a feeble attempt to reach his precious key. "Think of it as a gift from the Anarchs."

She had barely closed the door behind herself when the ground beneath her feet shook and the explosion sent debris and flames shooting into the room, and for an instant Shayne panicked. This hadn't been a part of her plan, she had planned on exiting the building with some dignity intact as well as knowing that LaCroix was dead and the Anarchs could reclaim the City of Angels. What she hadn't planned on was a massive explosion coming from what she could only assume to be the sarcophagus.

His death wasn't about to be her own, Shayne wasn't going to allow it. Staggering back to her feet she reached out letting her fingers wrap tightly around the molding of the wall until she finally found herself with enough leverage to begin moving forward. It had been during the blast that she realized if she hadn't been so preoccupied she would have realized what had been said before hand, the Jack in the Box. It made more sense than anything else she had seen over the last nineteen months of her life or rather undead life.

"Snack cake what are you still doing in here?"Leave it to her happy jolly security guard to want to play hero, not to mention expose the fact that she wasn't exactly human. Gritting her teeth for a few moments the young Brujah had to think and think fast, and of course there was no good explanation for what she was still doing in the tower. Finally after a fair amount of thought Shayne reached out hitting Chunk on the back of the head with the butt of her gun, not hard enough to kill him but it was enough to send him toppling to the ground and made it much easier for her to get him outside the building. "Don't worry Chunk you're going to be a hero, they'll talk about how brave you were to rush in and try to save Sebastian but that it was too late." Whispering in his ear as she hefted the guard to his feet and started to drag him, Shayne looked around searching for another exit. One that wouldn't result in her killing Chunk or landing in the crowd of kine that had began gathering to watch the flames. 'Damn him if he had gotten out of the building when I told him too instead of coming back,' she thought to herself as she finally made her way to a window. Below Shayne could make out the outline of Fat Larry's truck and of course with the heavy fire power and the likes that she bought from him, Larry had already figured that Shayne wasn't exactly on the up and up. Not to mention for a few hundred bucks she was certain the vendor would keep his mouth shut. Reaching out with her free hand Shayne smashed the glass watching as it starting to rain down on the ground below, and as she watched she reached a pressing question. How in the hell was she going to jump with Chunk and not kill him, she thought about it trying to ignore the searing flames rising behind her and the heat that was blowing against the back of her neck. Finally Shayne decided the only way to do it was to fall backwards, she would heal after the fall and it would cushion the impact for her guest.

Fat Larry had been quietly preparing to move his truck out of the way of the on lookers and the police when he looked up, seeing a form hurling straight for the ground and then slamming into. At first he thought it might have only been debris until he watched the blue clad form rolling over and a hand shooting out to make sure the man wasn't dead, at least he assumed that was what was happening. Still laying flat on the ground Shayne was willing her body not to over work it's self and using the trick that Beckett had taught her which was to allow just enough blood to go to her wounds to begin healing them.

"Baby Girl! I should have known when they building went up in flames it was you," Larry called, he had seen her going in and out at odd hours o the night and as time had gone on she seemed to be packing a more serious arsenal.

Shayne glared at him, a soot covered face staring out from behind a wild mass of curls that was normally kept in control by a ponytail holder. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she mumbled reaching out and dropping at least a few thousand dollars in the man's hand.

Larry understood, it was better that he forgot he had seen his favorite customer that night. "You sure you should be doing that Cleopatra?" His words were met with silence and the staggering form disappearing into the darkness.

Each step was like reliving the explosion all over again, the fall included but she had set out doing what she needed to do. Now it was just a matter of making it back to Hollywood and the Luckee Star to report that to Nines, the latter being the biggest problem that Shayne was facing. It was unclear to her at the moment and time just how far she was going to be able to go and if she would even be able to make it into Hollywood on that night. Lifting her head she looked around trying in vain to find a safe place that she could hole herself up in for the night and one that wouldn't attract the attention of the Camarilla or any of the local Sabbat that might remain. The parking garage, the one that she had gotten the briefcase for Larry from, if she recalled correctly there was a ventilation system spanning through the entire structure. If she hid in the air vents she would be safe until the sun went down the next night.

Pivoting on her heels Shayne started for the now abandon structure, hoping that despite her war torn appearance she could blend in with the growing crowd. It was a fruitless effort as a few steps into it she could feel her legs giving out from underneath her and one look showed that she was about to become up close and personal with the sidewalk, and that was the time that Shayne simply gave up deciding to let the darkness wash over her but before she did the last thing she heard was enough to bring a faint smile to her lips.

"You look like shit Kid."


	2. Chapter One: Numb

Had she been conscious Shayne would have realized that she had narrowly missed hitting the ground; in fact she was barely an inch from it. Shaking his head as he pulled her to her feet and then unceremoniously tossed the younger Kindred over his shoulder, Nines Rodriguez had to shake his head, he knew a lot of kindred that would have simply bailed and left that man in there to die but not Shayne. Looking around as she cut through an alleyway he pulled the grate from the sewer with his foot before dropping the faded, worn, and badly beaten bag Shayne carried with her down before he himself made the decent.

Downtown Los Angeles wasn't safe for either of them at that moment and time; Hollywood was a different story as Isaac Abrams wouldn't be caught dead letting a member of the Camarilla step inside the city limit. As for the sewer, while not Nines favorite place to be it kept them out of sight and off the streets. Though as he still wasn't a hundred percent himself he finally had to stop, setting the bag down on the nearest ledge and lowering Shayne down he himself took a seat across from her gun in hand.

Coming too when she felt the icy cold water lapping back and forth against her waist, Shayne snapped her eyes opened and sat straight up gasping. Still groggy and in an intense amount of pain she looked around eyeing her surrounding before reaching out and pulling herself to her feet. A secret she had kept all this time was that she was terrified of small enclosed spaces, and the only reason she had survived her time in the Warrens had been reasoning she had no other choice. This was why when he wanted to talk Gary used the phone instead of requesting her presence in his little chamber of horrors.

"You know if that's a pick up line I really think you need to find a new one," she finally said looking down at Nines as she folded her arms over her chest. The dark haired woman had no idea how much time had passed or how long they had been in the sewers and to her it seemed as if that statement had only been made a few moments before. "Where are we?"

Lifting his head Nines shrugged his shoulder before he rose, stretching his arms over his head and listening as the bones creaked and popped. "I'm not sure, my guess is that were somewhere underneath Downtown Los Angels which means we still have a way to go and probably not a lot of time to get there." Silently he was chuckling at her remark about pick up lines and maybe it had been one not that nines was ready or willing to admit that to anyone aside from possibly Damsel. "You think you can walk on your own for a while, you look pretty mangled."

If she looked mangled Shayne felt like she had been in, well so she had been in an explosion which explained why she felt that way. Nodding her head and clearing her throat she reached around grabbing making sure that through it all she had at least managed to keep her gun in place. "I bet in life you had a real way with the ladies huh," she teased, trying to hide the fact that she was in the middle of a vampiric panic attack.

"Actually in life I believe it or not I had a wife and child," Nines explained unable to stop himself before it came from his lips, he had never told anyone that about himself. "I was a dock worker up until the time I was embraced," he added before he fell silent for a few moments listening to the sounds of their footsteps and water dripping. "Right after I was embraced my Sire was killed during a war with the Camarilla, I was younger back then and even now it still doesn't seem right."

"I'm sorry."He glanced over at her as they continued to walk before shaking his head. "Don't be I mean I would have liked to have known my Sire but if I had I don't think I would have been half the person that I am right now," he explained, "but I know what it's like to feel that empty space being left all alone can leave."

Opening up to another person wasn't as easy as it looked, and while she appreciated Nines talking to her Shayne normally said little about herself. In fact she had managed to go all this time without once giving away too many details about her life. "I don't know I don't guess I ever really felt that loneliness from not having a Sire, from the beginning I had people picking me back up and putting me on my feet when I stumbled."

The smell of smoke seemed to be diminishing with each step that they took, and that could only mean that they were getting farther and farther away from the downtown area. As the silence drifted back and forth between the two of them Shayne turned her head slightly stealing a glance from time to time, had the situation been different she would have been taking in Nines in all his glory but as it was she was too tired to think past the next step. In the back of her mind she knew she should have said more, not kept herself so closely guard especially not in a moment like this but when guarded was what you did best it was difficult to break that habit.

"You know I grew in the Hollywood Hills, and not once did I stop to think that anything like the life that we live existed outside of movies. I spent nights in the Asp Hole with my friends just hoping to catch a glimpse of Ash Rivers and browsing the jewelry in Isaac's jewelry shop." This was the part of it all was still utterly amazing to Shayne, to know that the world of darkness had been so close to her and yet so far away. "Hell I even worked at Parasite Studios, which makes me wonder if they still have me on their pay roll,' she joked.

Finding out that she had lived in Hollywood explained a lot to Nines, like why Shayne had moved in and out of the surrounding areas with a great amount of ease. This had been enough to prove to him that she wasn't just some tourist that had been bitten on the neck and turned, now it all made sense. Stopping and holding his hand out when he heard footsteps behind them that weren't their own, Nines shifted his weight drawing his gun from its place at his side but he saw nothing. He knew however that he had heard someone walking behind them but firing wildly would have drawn more attention than was needed to their location. Before he could say anything to Shayne about it Nines realized she must have heard it too, only she seemed to be at ease.

"Well Boss you did real good, the Giovanni mansion, that bitch in Chinatown, and finally that pretty boy Prince." Gorgeous Gary Golden, had his face been seen, was wearing an amused and sinister look on his twisted features. "Looks like you might be a little lost in the sewers though, did Mr. Handsome get you all turned around."

"Who the, what the hell is going on Shayne."Shayne smirked before she holstered her weapon once more and motioned for Nines to do the same. "Why don't you throw me a bone Gary and help us out here," Shayne called before she lowered her voice down and leaned in closer to Nines. "It's the voice in my head, sometimes it tends to manifest it's self in the form of a former Hollywood actor."

Manifest it's self, she was loosing her mind but if that were the case than it seemed Nines was loosing his as well. "Right and does these voices in your head talk to other people too?""Only for the right price," Gary interrupted before appearing just behind Nines with a soft popping sound. "I'll help you this time but it won't be for free Boss, will just call this an IOU for now," he added as the former Nosferatu Primogen moved around the two Brujah and started walking, realizing that he was good distance ahead of them before he turned. "Well if you're coming, I don't have all day Boss."

"Follow him, he can get us into Hollywood faster than we can get ourselves down here Nines," Shayne said in a quiet voice before she sighed adjusting the bag over her shoulder, grimacing as the strap dug into her flesh. "Hey Gary hold up a second, you seem to forget that whole big bang we just had going on.""Nice work on that Boss, but between you and I would have let him die but no you can't do that," Gary teased as soon as Shayne had caught up to him, though he noticed her lagging behind more than normal even in her current state, "Go on Boss I'll slow down you make sure Handsome back there doesn't get lost." As he lead them through one sewer tunnel and then another Gary couldn't help but notice the lack of conversation going on behind him, but it had been said that silence could often speak far more than words ever could. The tension was there, enough that the Nosferatu could pick up on it and while he would have normally taunted and teased, he refused to do that to Shayne. Maybe he had a soft spot for her because she had shown no fear of the Nosferatu or maybe it was because he knew who she really was and just who her family was, and he had a think for that old Hollywood style. Looking back a final time and pointing upward, Gary disappeared from sight leaving them to their own devices and just outside of the Hollywood Forever Memorial Cemetery. Should she have let Chunk die?

That was something that Shayne had been milling over in the silence, a voice in her head had told her to drain him dry and then leave him but she hadn't. Instead she had done the right thing; all along she had been trying to do the right thing. It wasn't as if she enjoyed the blood that tinted her hands red, the lives that had been taken by her hand. Scratch that some of those that she had killed she had no remorse in killing them, they had deserved it in one way or another but this was the second instance that she had allowed someone to live. The first being Dr. Johansen but after he had been kidnapped by the Society of Leopold she didn't have the hear to finish him off even when she had no other choice but use Celerity to get them both out of the monastery.

Hearing gunshots being fire Shayne reached behind herself removing the gun from its holster before she realized just who it was, letting out a laugh she shook her head and then sighed. "The dead rise up, he keeps them in," she muttered before she reached out catching Nines arm, biting down on her lower lip. "I found Ash when I was facing off with Bach, I let him die and I didn't aim too." Shaking her head as she looked up Shayne dropped her head down before she took in a deep breath despite having no real need for it. "I let him die."

She was irrational, Ash was the typical toreador in fact in Nines eyes he was the Toreador that gave the rest a bad name. Sullen, moody, and concerned only with his own self loathing. Nines reached out and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down as he listened, not sure if she was getting ready to Frenzy or if she had just had a revelation. He hoped it was the latter as he didn't think he had the heart to put her down if it came to that, in fact he knew he wouldn't be able too. Finally realizing that she was going to say nothing else or she was waiting for him to say something, Nines smiled. "You didn't do anything wrong, Ash was the one that got careless and drew more attention to himself than he needed to and if he died. That death isn't on your hands Shayne, I know you better than you think and you would have risked your life to save him, just like you risk your life to save that security guard and that archeologist." Yes Nines knew about both, the first because he had seen it with his own eyes and the second because it had been the parting words from Beckett. "Besides knowing Ash he's off somewhere sulking, you know how those artist types are they bruise so easy. It's why we don't mix well with all of them, we were built for war and that were built to be puppet masters."

Maybe he was right, after all Ash hadn't seemed to care on way or the other what happened and there she was worrying about him. Offering a weak smile Shayne reached out and started for the ladder that would lead to the surface before the hand caught her arm and pulled her back. Having no strength left to protest, as her night was catching up to her she simply shifted her weight from foot to foot and listened to the gunshots being fired. Zombies were something that she had a particular dislike for and while at the Giovanni mansion it had nearly been enough to make her rethinking claiming the sarcophagus for anyone at all.

"Romero thinks that marksmanship is an art form," she said as Shayne thought back to the Baron's ghoul and his use of the word Sugarpuss. Really what was it with people and calling her by cute little names, or names that had to do with food products?

Nines nodded his head as he listened as well. "Isaac told me that they were having a problem with old actors trying to get a snack."

Snorting Shayne lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah that's an understatement and let me tell you something those things hurt like hell when they bite you,' she replied, shuddering as she recalled the cemetery run and the crack house. "I helped him out a few months back and let me tell you it was enough to make me decide the next time I'll take the extra ten minutes and just go find him a hooker."

There was a moment when the last of that statement left her lips that Nines had to turn away to keep from letting her see that he was in fact laughing. So far she had only managed to see him as being a stoic faced leader, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel like she already knew him. "That how you got the Jamie Sue," he finally asked turning an icy gaze back to his companion. The large sniper rifle was kind of hard to miss especially with the way that she had it tucked into her shoulder bag. On that note he held the bag up in his other hand before he smirked. "You packing your whole life in here or something?"

"Kind of, when LaCroix ordered the blood hunt on me for killing you Jack told me to take everything that I would need since I wouldn't be coming back to the haven in Santa Monica." Explaining that Shayne smiled at him. "That however my friend is not the Jamie Sue sticking out back there."

Nines was curious as to what the wrapped object was considering that it took up most of the bag and made it seem awkward to pack, though after a few moments it dawned on him and he blinked. "You didn't Shayne?"

Shrugging her shoulders before the seldom seen smirk crossed her features Shayne nodded her head. "I did, I thought Isaac could hand it on his wall as a warning to the wooden foot soldiers of the Camarilla that stray a little to far from home." Falling silent as she stood there Shayne finally looked up at Nines, studying his features before she spoke. "Is it supposed to feel like this, I mean I thought it would feel well … different once I had killed LaCroix? I mean I felt alive all through Chinatown and the Ventrue Tower and now it's just gone, I feel like this numb dead thing. Is it supposed to feel this way?"

"It's the rush and the thrill, and then things go back to normal until the next time around," Nines explained. "It's in those times of silence that the Beast tries to take over most of all."

"Do you remember what it was like to be human, more and more it's like I forget what it felt like. The things I use to enjoy that I don't anymore," said Shayne reaching up to run her fingers through her hair and brush it from her eyes.

"See that's one of those things that as long as you hold onto the humanity that you have left you never forget. You're no different now than you were then really. The blood makes you stronger and I know you've heard all there is to hear about the Brujah and how hard headed and violent we are but that isn't always the case. Remember what I told you, violence isn't always the answer but sometimes it's your right." There was more that he wanted to say, but right then and there wasn't the time for that. "I'll explain the rest of this to you another time, for now though it's close to the sun coming up and we need to get moving."

Lifting the grate and pushing himself up on the street Nines reached down catching both of her wrist before he hefted her out, giving her moment or two to catch her breath before he rose to his feet, Kicking the grate closed be reached down tugging the younger Kindred to her feet before he dropped his arm over her shoulder in an almost protective fashion. It was another thing that he could explain but it went back to that spark he had felt in the courtroom that night and why he had stood up and faced down with LaCroix. She looked as tired as he felt which was why he was making sure that she was moving constantly, the moment they stopped it would be lights out for the day and tomorrow night it would be a different story altogether.

Tomorrow night would determine if the Camarilla made a move or decided to leave Los Angeles for good and that meant it was just going to be a wait and see kind of game. Fortunately as the night had started to draw to a close the Luckee Star could be seen just ahead and Nines let out an almost relived sigh when he saw the glow of its neon lights. He had left Damsel and Skelter guarding the room when he had gone but he hadn't told them what he was leaving for and Nines assumed they thought he was merely going to see how much damage had been done. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind when he heard the yawn coming from beside him, and he took the opportunity to let out one of his own.

Damsel had been on the defensive when she had watched the double doors opening until saw spotted Nines, and that was when she jumped down from the second level to the first. "Oh my god, you're alive. I was pretty sure you would be floating above the city somewhere by now," he had gone back to get her, that much was apparent to Damsel now but she couldn't say that she wasn't happy about it.

"I found her trying to make it to the garage downtown and then almost face planting on the sidewalk," Nines called tightening his arm around Shayne's shoulders when it seemed she was about to fall flat on the again. "Whoa, easy Kiddo."Damsel nodded her head as if to her that made perfect sense, and it kind of did. "No lights in the lower level, get up in the vents she could have slept it off till tomorrow night." That was at least the reasoning she saw in it. "Kind of a smart plan I mean for a Cammy Do Girl and all that," Damsel teased. She couldn't help herself, there were few women that made their home among the Anarchs downtown, most like to remain in Hollywood and she was seeing this as a chance to have someone on her side.

Shayne nodded her head; she had thought that the garage was a great hiding place. "That was the plan until someone told me I looked like shit and then tossed me into the sewer," she offered as she gave another yawn.

"I told you that you looked like shit when I caught your ass before you hit the pavement, and then I tossed you into the sewers," Nines countered. "At least I didn't wait till that moment and time to tell people I was claustrophobic." He thought about it and then laughed. "I've been thinking about this, trying to figure out just how in the hell it is that you managed to survive the Warrens.""Hope and prayer," Shayne answered as she looked around and then dropped her head back and looked up at the slowly changing sky. "I need sleep and I don't have plans of being crispy fried Kindred anytime soon."Inside the room Skelter had already started to get things ready, the mattress had been lifted up and placed against the window blocking out the lights and the box springs where pushed against the door the moment that it had closed. For all of his sarcasm and professed dislike he appeared to be wearing the same look of surprise and relief that Damsel had been wearing on her face when he realized what was going on, though the smile he gave was lost on Shayne and that was apparent.

The fledgling had already found a corner of the room as far away from the door as she possibly could and curled up in it and was now sleeping soundly. For the rest there seemed to be nothing left to do but just that, get as much sleep as possible for the events that would surely take place of the following days. After all one could expect the Camarilla to go down without a fight, they weren't known for taking rejection well but for the first time in some time the ball seemed to be in the Anarchs court. As she curled up in the floor letting her head rest on one of the pillows that had been tossed there, Shayne had been ready to fall asleep when she felt someone moving behind her. Shifting she turned her head to find Nines laying with his back pressed against the wall and rather than fighting it Shayne simply leaned back against him and let her self drift off to sleep. Whatever was happening now she would worry about when the sun went down in the morning but until then she saw no point in arguing about sleeping arrangements.


	3. Chapter Two: Planning Ahead

How long had she been asleep? Pushing herself up in the darkness of the motel room Shayne groaned as she stretched her arms out, listening as the bones and muscles began to creak and pop. From behind the mattress she that was covering the window she could tell the sun had only recently gone down and from the sheer silence in the room, she was the only one awake. Painfully pushing herself to her feet she took a few staggering steps forward, careful not to step on anyone as she made her way outside.

Five minutes later, the thin tendrils of smoke curling around her head from a recently lit cigarette and Shayne was bored. That feeling from the night before of simply being numb hadn't passed in fact if anything it was now worse than before. It was kind of like a sickening cocktail that was being chased with a side of loneliness and feeling lonely was a new feeling for Shayne, normally she preferred solitude. With a heavy hearted sigh she leaned into the railing and let her head hang down, the matted curls sticking to her forehead and in desperate need of grooming.

Had she been asked a year ago if she thought any of this shit was real she would have laughed, but the ironic thing was that while other little girls had wanted to be Princesses she had wanted to be a vampire. Now that it was a literal thing Shayne questioned how in the world she could have been so naïve as not to pay attention to any of this, they had been right in front of her face the entire time and she had simply walked past and thought nothing of it. Granted that was what they had the Masquerade for and that only meant that it was working.

Pulling herself from the slump she was headed for she looked around hearing and seeing nothing, at that moment and time Shayne was in desperate need of a shower, fresh clothing, and cash. Unable to return to either of her previous havens, the first because she had barely survived the blood hunt that had been called for her and the second because it reminded her far too much of Heather and the terrible fate she'd met. It was the blood of the innocent that died which weighed the heaviest on your hands, the ones that you couldn't save even though that was what you truly wanted to do.

'_Pull yourself together Shayne, you standing out here acting as if you've lost your best friend you your forgetting you survived worse than you could have imagined._' It didn't change the fact she needed to get cleaned up, but luckily as they were in Hollywood her old apartment complex was right across the street. While living there she had never realized that her neighbor had been Tawni Sessions nor had she realized the woman had a liking for Llama's, which was a thought that made her shudder.

"Hey Cammy where are you wondering off to?"Damsel's voice had crashed through her thoughts like a sledge hammer and for a moment Shayne simply stood there with her back to the red head, finally she turned and looked up at the spot where she had just been standing. Strangely the look that she was getting wasn't one of discontempt or mistrust like she had seen before; this one was almost motherly and somewhat friendly. Somewhat friendly and Damsel didn't seem to go together, it was unusual not to see her with a scowl pasted across her pale features.

Finally collecting herself enough to answer, and Shayne was hoping that she no longer looked like a dear in the headlights of a car she cleared her throat. "I was planning on getting some clothes, cash, and a shower," she called up stubbing her cigarette out on the bottom of her boot. "Do you want to come with me?"Without giving a verbal answer, Damsel jumped down over the railing and landed next to where Shayne was standing. Before she had kept her distance from the younger Brujah for the pure and simple reason that she had no way of knowing which side she was going to go for in the end, but her resolve had been chipped away when the woman had shown up at the Luckee Star looking for refuge and pissed to the nines. Then last night when she had wandered in with Nines before promptly passing out in a corner of the room Damsel had known that Shayne wasn't the traitor Skelter would have liked her to have been.

"Sure thing Cammy," normally Damsel wouldn't have taken the offer but this was possibly the only chance she had to talk alone and without male ears listening to everything that had to be said. "What makes you think you still have an apartment over there?"

"I have a friend that was a co-signer on the lease and when I don't make payments he assumes that I've gone off the deep end once more and he normally covers it till I pop back up." Disappearing wasn't an un-common occurrence with Shayne; since she had been sixteen years old she had bounced from one place to another when she got the whim to. As for the apartment being paid up that often tended to be a guilty conscious talking on the part of her 'friend'. "If it isn't then my guess is that its all in storage somewhere and it won't take the Nosferatu long to find out where."

**The Luckee Star Motel**

Nines wouldn't say it out loud but he was concerned, it had been almost a full night since the explosion and yet the Camarilla hadn't made a move. The streets were silent and no one seemed to be moving, it was un-nerving as it only meant one of two things they were plotting or they were trying to figure out how to regain power without LaCroix's presence. Since while it appeared that they were going to leave without a fight, Nines didn't see that as truly being an option after all they still assumed that they had own. Lifting his head up when he heard the door open and then all but slam close he expected to see Damsel and was surprised to find Jack standing there looking at him, a cigar hanging from his lips and a grin plastered across his features.

Jack had been out prowling around, trying to see what if anything that he could find out about what was going on. The silence was getting under the former pirates skin as it meant that nothing good could come from it. "Heard anything?"

"Nothing, so far their movement downtown has been minimal and no one has seen Strauss. The movement in and out of the chantry has been limited to the few people you always see going in and out of there, the Primogen have also disappeared into hiding holes," Nines explained as he raked his hand along the top of his head before he furrowed his eyebrows. "You heard anything?"

"Not a damn thing," Jack answered as he sunk down into the only thing that hadn't been turned over to block the light out. "Where's Damsel?"

It was a good question and one that Nines didn't possess an answer too, Damsel had been gone before he had opened his eyes. "I have no idea but I can bet she isn't alone, she and Shayne were gone before I got up and apparently they were long gone before Skelter left," at least that was what Skelter had said but Nines didn't know how hard he had really been looking.

Nodding his head as he blew smoke into the air Jack leaned back a little more before he let out a laugh. "I bet that stuffed shirt didn't even see it coming when he opened that sarcophagus," he mused before smirking widely. "I told you Kiddo would make it out alright, I had Beckett give her a final warning not to open it just in case."

There had never been a doubt in Jack's mind that Shayne would side with the Anarchs, he had watched her closely and he had seen the wheels in her head turning each time something happened. It was like her eyes would light up for a few moments before dimming and her face once again being expressionless but you could see where it was headed in the long run. Other people had questioned it, had doubted, hell some of them had been plotting a way to get rid of her in the end. Not Ole Jack though, he had wanted nothing from her and in return he had made sure she kept her undead ass alive and kicking granted that had also had the added benefit of making LaCroix's eye twitch.

In the silence Nines let his mind wonder, thinking over what their next move should be. A part of him thought about the method of pillage and plunder but in the end that would only make more trouble for the Anarchs than it would for the Camarilla. What they needed was a way to draw them out in someway shape or form, let them make the first move and then strike from there. If they made no move however he feared that the city could remain a dead zone and Nines hated the idea of that. Finally lifting his head he looked over at Jack and then grinned, he had a plan.

**The Apartment of Shayne Emerson**

"Wow Cammy I have to tell you something your undead self and your living self are two different people," Damsel remarked, up until the door had opened and they had stepped inside she had assumed Shayne to be a neat freak but the apartment was a mini war zone or possibly a bio hazard. The Shayne she had come to know seemed to be neat, well kept and would have never lived in these conditions.

Had she been anyone else Shayne would have been embarrassed at the condition of the apartment. Pizza boxes on the floor, broken glass from an ash tray strewn over the room, clothes tossed everywhere including the glass that covered the light in the living room. On the top of the television was a picture frame that the glass had been smashed into pieces a few droplets of blood remaining on the frame, the picture inside of it had been ripped apart and then taped back together in a moment of regret. What little they knew about her past couldn't explain the behavior but in life Shayne hadn't been a stable person, haunted and weighed down by a past that she couldn't change or forget most had considered her to be a lost cause.

"Looks like you have messages, want to check them?" Damsel questioned eyeing the flashing red light on the machine and wondering just how much it could hold.

Kicking a box out of her way as she went to the machine Shayne hit the button before she gave a sigh; she was expecting the worst from what was on there. "I'm going to grab some clothes, a shower, and my stash of cash." She called out to Damsel as she exited into the make shift bedroom, it was more of a disaster than what the living area was.

From where she was standing through she could still hear the messages that were playing on the machine and the first few sent a shudder down her spine.

'Shayne it's your mother where are you?' A few messages later the same voice filled the room only this time anger and move frustrated. 'Damn it Shayne were having this party for you the least you could do is hold your self together long enough to show up. If you aren't here in ten minutes I swear,' thankfully it had been cut off before her mother had been able to finish. The third message on the machine from her mother was a complete one eighty from the others. 'Honey I'm sorry I yelled at you, I hope your okay. It's just that people are starting to get restless and it is your birthday party, when you get this come to the restaurant if nothing else your father and I will still be here.'

As she stood leaning against the couch Damsel watched the machine as it continue to play going through messages from concerned friends and family to Parasite Studios calling to tell Shayne she had been fired. In the other room the sound of a shower starting and the smell of a scented shampoo could be smelt, it was in the few moments that the machine crackled to life again Damsel was certain she'd heard Shayne gasp before clambering out of the shower while still dripping wet.

'I'm covering the apartment till you come back to reality Shay-Shay but I'm warning you if your mother continues to call me I'm going to take drastic measures this time around. Also when you get in and get this give me a call please, I need to make sure that you're alright and I want you to seriously considering coming back up here alright.'

She hadn't reached the answering machine before another message from the same cool, confident and slightly dominating voice filled the room. Shayne grimaced as it played as she held the towel against her chest.

'Alright I'm starting to get concerned now, its been three months Shay almost four and I haven't heard anything at all ffrom you,' there was a pause and Shayne was hoping that was all the message had to say but of course she couldn't be that lucky. 'If I don't hear from you soon I'm going to come down there and look for myself. Call me alright.'

Arms folded over her chest Damsel lifted an eyebrow before she chuckled looking at the dripping wet Kindred. "Boyfriend?" It seemed logical if someone was willing to pay for your living arrangements and knew your mother was a whack job they had to be close in some way shape or form.

"Ex boyfriend with a guilty conscious about some things that happened," Shayne explained before she let out a low breath when she heard the tape start to rewind and realized the messages were over. "We met, fell in love, he slept with someone else, I found out, I came home and decided to turn my life around, and then I got embraced and turned into a vampire," Shayne added brushing the damp strands of hair from her eyes.

Damsel thought that was only half the story but she wasn't going to press for more details, after all Shayne had earned the right to keep her private matters to herself when she wanted to. On the other hand the voice on the phone had sounded desperate like someone that wasn't just guilty but regretted what they had done and that worried her. She had only recently found out that Nines interest in Shayne was more than just a brotherly affection or that of someone who had been left sireless as well, and her own over protective nature toward the Anarch Leader told her that sabotage was the best option. Still the hardness in Shayne voice meant that she might not have too as she didn't seem keen on the idea of contacting the caller or happy about them continuing to call.

Her thoughts were still lingering on this though as she wanted her friends face. Realizing that Shayne was going to give away nothing at all Damsel reached down and flipped through a magazine before she tossed it into the floor. Shayne on the other hand disappeared into the bedroom pulling the clothes that she had laid out on before she sighed; the bottom line was that as much as she hated him she loved him too. That was one thing that had never changed even after she had caught Cash with someone else, of course she merely passed this thought off to the pure and simple fact she was facing her own mortality and her own loneliness especially after what happened to Heather. There was no way she could inflict that onto another person as the death haunted her and she assumed that it always would.

**The Luckee Star Motel**

"You want me to do what, have you gone off your rocker? Did the werewolf do more damage to your brain than we thought," Shayne was fuming; Nines had lost his mind if she thought she was going to go for this. "Seriously you're staring to sound more out of it than Jeanette is." He wanted her to turn herself into Strauss for killing him, let them take her to trial and the expose the Camarilla and LaCroix's organization for what it had been a big joke. "I don't know I barely got out of my last trial with my head on my shoulders Nines and what if something happens."

This was why he had sent Damsel and Skelter outside with Jack, getting Shayne to agree to this was going to be a lot harder than what he had planned on it being but it wasn't as if Nines could blame her for not wanting too. Pushing himself up onto the dresser and watching as she paced around the room he gave her a few moments to collect herself before speaking again. For the first time since he had seen her in the court room Nines was seeing a look of fear etched across her features and he could tell that she was, if anything she seemed like she was fidgeting about agreeing to this.

Shayne was wondering what would happen if he wasn't there, the first time he had saved her ass and her head. If he got delayed she could face a final death for a crime she hadn't committed and then what. Digging her nails into her palm Shayne lifted her head as she suppressed the terror she was feeling at that moment before turning her head slightly and lifting an eyebrow. "I know your worried Shayne but I won't let them take your head off I didn't the first time, we need this opportunity to expose what LaCroix has done to the Kindred of the city and you're the only in that I have right now," Nines began. "LaCroix ordered a blood hunt on you for a crime that never happened, if Strauss goes through with it knowing that I'm not dead imagine what will happen. Even the die hard supporters of the Camarilla will have to stop and think twice." Closing his head as he let it lean back against the wall Nines hated what he was about to say. "You need to trust me just like I've trusted you."

She had to admit that despite the fact she very well could have her head removed from her neck this would bring out the truth, there would be no denying that she had been falsely accused if Nines was there in the flesh. On the other hand she wanted a plan B, of course this was going to cost her more than a copy of Tap Hotel and she knew that but Shayne was willing to be in debt to the Nosferatu.

"I'll agree to this Nines but on one condition, you give me twenty-four hours to talk to Gary. It's not that I don't trust you or the others but if I'm literally sticking my neck out on the line I want a plan B in case things get out of hand," she explained recalling where and how she had gotten in and out of the Nocturne Theater when installing their cameras. "I want to know that I have an escape plan if something goes wrong."

Nosferatu, sometimes he thought Shayne might well have been a Nosferatu herself with the way she acted, at least in mannerism but he wasn't going to tell her no. "Fine twenty-four hours for you to get your plan B, after that will work with what we have." There was something else; he could see it forming behind the dark blue orbs that were staring at him.

Something else, more like impulsiveness and the thought that she might not have another chance to do it. Shayne leaned forward and pressed her mouth against Nines, one hand trailing along his jaw line before she pulled her head back and looked at him. "I'll be in the Warrens." She couldn't explain why she had just done that but she had and Shayne wasn't the least bit bothered or ashamed of it either, everything she had wanted to say since that first night in court she'd said it all in a single kiss. After all any other emotion aside from anger had never been her strong suit, for now though this would have to do until she could figure out how to say the rest of it.


	4. Chapter Three: Deja Vu

"You want to what?" Damsel looked between Nines and Skelter and found herself surprised that even Skelter looked a little put off by this idea. "Nines I don't like this."

Skelter normally didn't question Nines in the least bit and he had a hatred for Shayne that he couldn't explain, but this was something he wasn't sure about. "Our numbers are down, you're talking about doing more than calling a Prince out, you're talking about calling the entire Camarilla out. If this back fires we could loose more than we gain Nines."

He had thought about this, run through all the options and this one was the best that he could find. Their numbers being down was the reason why it had seemed like such a good plan, it might well mean no war and no loss of life. What he saw was a chance to prove to those that had been sitting idly by on the fence that the Anarchs could take a far more diplomatic approach to things than what they assumed and that while everyone assumed the Anarchs to be mad dog vicious they could also be civil. In this instance he stood by his decision to handle things in this manner and while he valued the opinion of the others Nines recalled something he had said just recently. Violence isn't always the answer, but sometimes it's your God given right.

"Does the kid know the risk that are involved in this?" questioned Jack as he leaned against the wall far enough away from the brood that one would think he wasn't with them but still close enough he could hear each and every word. "Seems to me she's the only one loosing something with this if you fuck up." Sure he thought him to be a stand up guy but Jack didn't forget for a second that Nines mind was hard wired to the Depression and what lengths he would do to in order to get rid of the Camarilla.

"She knows we've talked about it, in a few hours she'll turn herself into Strauss for my murder, and then she'll invoke her right to be judged by a jury of Kindred." He was hoping Strauss didn't jump the gun and act but as the defacto leader of the Camarilla at the moment he had no other choice but to make a good impression. "Don't worry too much about the Kid though she has a plan B, I have no idea what it is but it involves the Nosferatu."

It wasn't a big surprise as Jack had noticed they had taken a shine to Shayne though he wasn't sure why, unless it had to do with the fact she didn't seem taken aback by their habits and she didn't view them as monsters like others he had seen. It was of little comfort to the Brujah Brawler and former Pirate however as he thought this was too calculated of a risk, there was too much that could go wrong if someone was a few seconds off in their timing not to mention that there seemed to be a lot expected and assumed on the part of Maxamillion Strauss. Regardless though Jack was willing to see how this played out and given that there was a plan B in place he didn't think it would hurt.

"Then let's go they need to get you into the city without any of the Camarilla seeing you and that means your going to have to take the sewers." Jack offered smirking at the idea, something about the image of them mucking around in the sewers while he sat in the comfort of his car. "You have fun with that I'm going to go check things out downtown."**Downtown LA The Regents Chantry**

Her plan was in place and if things hit the roof and she couldn't get out, Mitnick was going to kill the lights and Gary would be there to make sure she made it into the sewers. From that point on Imalia and Barrabus would get her back into Hollywood where she would be safe. Shayne had said a Plan B she hadn't said that it was an elaborate plan or that it was one which would require a lot of thought on her part or a lot to actually act it out. After all Gary was expected to be there as he was still considered to be a Primogen and the Nosferatu had their network set up in the Nocturne Theater which gave them even more eyes and ears.

Stepping out of the cab and adjusting her blouse Shayne eyed the streets before she started for the Chantry, she felt naked and vulnerable with no weapons and a chance that she might die that night. Not bothering to push the thoughts from her mind Shayne instead used it to her advantage and hoped the look on her face screamed guilty of something. Even if that something was just a bad decision it didn't matter, what mattered was making this work and getting the truth out there for all to see. Approaching the Regents chambers Shayne hesitated before she pulled the door open and stepped inside, automatically lowering her head as he turned to look at her.

The firelight bouncing off his red rimmed glasses Strauss was surprised at what he saw but pleasantly pleased. "Well Neonate have you come to your senses, if you have I might be willing to forgive your past crimes against the Kindred of this city."

She couldn't do this; she was going to vomit having to play into that cunning smirk of his. No she could handle this, playing into him was going to be easy. Thinking back over her life in general Shayne latched onto that one moment where she had felt as if it was all over before lifting her head, bright red streaks of blood dripping down her cheeks now.

"I don't want to be forgiven Strauss, you might be able to live with my crimes but I can not. I killed Nines Rodriguez that night in Griffith Park, and then I lit the fire to cover up the evidence." She had done neither but that would all be proven in time. "The Blood hunt for me is still in order is it not, and if it is than I expect to be judged by a jury of my fellow Kindred. Let the Primogen and the Kindred of this city decide my fate."

Had it not been for the fact she seemed sincere that she couldn't live with what she had done he would have thought this was some sort of set up, but instead Regent. Strauss was seeing it as a chance to affirm his control of the city and therefore the Tremere's control of things as well. Being fair and yet at the same time getting rid of the legendary fledgling before she could destroy him just as Sebastian LaCroix had been destroyed. No this would work just as well and he could be a hero in his own right by avenging the people's hero.

**Downtown LA Nocturne Theater**

"My fellow Kindred," Strauss began as he looked out at the sea of Kindred that had turned up to watch what they thought would be an execution. "Tonight we have gathered here to witness the trail of the accused, a Kindred that has already once before been given the chance to live in our society and be governed by our laws. Instead of doing this they committed the unthinkable act and killed Nines Rodriguez in an act of cold blood, spread lies about Sebastian LaCroix being in league with the Eastern invaders, but in the end had enough conscious left to turn herself in after a Blood Hunt had been ordered upon her."

Talk about eerie flash backs and those moments that you felt as if you were standing in front of the class in your underwear, and as she felt the panic starting to rise Shayne had to remind herself that she would be alright. To her left she could see Gorgeous Gary along with the other Primogen and he was doing a good job of looking at her with distain, but then again she had seen his movies and he had been a remarkable actor. In the audience Shayne could just make out Jeanette who was seated next to Damsel and Isaac who had taken a seat near Skelter. What surprised her however was seeing the familiar face of Ash Rivers seated next to V.V. and staring up at the stage like he was trying to find out what was going on. Like her first trial Jack was leaning back against one of pillars smoking a cigar or maybe a cigarette, from that distance it was hard for her to tell for certain.

"This Kindred has asked for a trial by her peers but I say that her crimes are too great for that and we must seek much more drastic measures." He was happy with this but Strauss had been ready to finish his speech when he heard something causing a ruckus in the audience. "What in the…"

"This is bullshit, and I think I should get a say in the matter since she is being tried for my murder and as we can see I'm not dead."

Damsel could see the look of relief on Shayne's face as she rose to her feet gun drawn toward the stage watching each move they were making, but she hadn't anticipated how involved Gary would be willing to get in this matter.

"Heads up Boss." Reaching into the long over coat and pulling from it a double gauged shot gun Gary Golden tossed it toward Shayne before he pulled his own gun. Normally the Nosferatu didn't get involved but he disliked Strauss and he was beginning to have a burning hatred for the Camarilla in general. Aiming the silver revolver toward the Kindred nearest to him Gary looked out to see the audience now filled with the ghastly faces of the Nosferatu. "No one move were all going to settle this."

Rising to her feet the shotgun in hand Shayne looked around eyeing them all before she took a step back, giving the impression that she might well drop off the stage. That was until she lunged forward and reached out her arm wrapping around Strauss neck as she pointed the gun into his chest, it had been enough to cause the Camarilla closest to her to back off which was what she wanted. She had no intention of hurting the Tremere Regent even if Shayne did think he deserved it for making some poor person into a Gargoyle but that was beside the point, yet a good one she wouldn't hesitate to bring up if she felt backed into a corner.

Nines was surprised but pleased at what he saw taking place before him, the confused looks on the faces of the Primogen and those closest to him whispering about how he wasn't dead. Well no more dead than he had been before LaCroix tried to kill him in the park, to his right Ash Rivers was standing acting as if he were a part of things even though he had in effect never been before.

"Look around you is this what you want. Night after night since LaCroix and his cohorts have had control of this city you have fought a never ending Jyhad that wasn't your own to fight." Shayne began before she shook her head tightening her grip on the Regent and wondering why in the hell they had given Jeanette a gun, the crazy woman was bound to use it on herself rather than someone else. "To LaCroix you were nothing more than a sum in a ledger that he could bleed dry and all the while he was a traitor, the night of the fire in Griffith Park he wanted an alliance with the Anarchs because his alliance with the Kuei- Jin had failed.

Taking a deep breath as she continued to look around not liking the idea that she didn't have enough cover, Shayne felt that lump in her throat lesson when she noticed Jack just behind her. No one challenged Jack and in a situation like this it was the best to have him on your side, then again if she really though about it he had always been on her side but that wasn't the issue at hand.

"For months now LaCroix has let the streets run red with the blood of the Camarilla and the Anarchs and when he felt like the world was closing in around him, he found someone to blame. Like Allistar Grout and Nines, using Ming Xiao's ability to shape shift he saw a way to rid himself of a problematic Primogen and what he considered to be a hardened rebel leader. He threw me into the mix because I was politically naïve and no one would suspect me of lying." That still bothered her she hadn't wanted to tell him she had seen Nines because she hadn't believed it herself but Shayne had been left with no choice in the matter. "Strauss is no better he knew what LaCroix was doing and continued to allow it for his own personal amusement."

"If this is the kind of system that you want than you have it, but there have to be some of you that are looking at this with wide opened eyes now seeing the truth that you've been told all along," Nines started making his way to the stage and then onto, the McLusky in his hand. "Take into consideration that we could have simply killed you all and been done with it but instead were trying to be rational and reasonable, it's the Camarilla that's the problem," he added looking back at Strauss. "This is your would be leader and as you've seen his concerns have nothing to do with any of you, they fall in the order of his clan and his Chantry."

Strauss could see the tides were turning, the Anarchs had gained sufficient ground this night maybe not enough to sway those that were truly invested in their organization. However it was enough to sway those that had a bitter taste left in their mouth thanks to Sebastian LaCroix, and for that reason alone there was something ominous in the words that were being spoken. Reaching up and rubbing his throat when the young Brujah that he had been intent on disposing of had let go of him the Regent took a few steps back before he looked around. They were out numbered or so it seemed, after the Nosferatu's appearance nothing could be certain.

"For those of you that want to remain loyal to the Camarilla tread carefully in this city, one toe out of line and you will be hunted into your final nights," said Shayne as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. "Those of you that want change and are truly sure that this is what you want you know what to do. You all need to keep in mind that this city has always belonged to the Anarchs and it will continue to belong to the Anarchs."

**The Last Round Downtown LA**

"Alright so that was pretty good," Damsel said as she leaned back against the wall so that she could keep a watch on the lower level as well as talk to those that were milling about the upper levels. "I think the fact we didn't slaughter them got their attention more than anything else."

"Course it did kitten, now their looking at the Cam and wondering how long they can dangle from that noose in the air before its around their necks," Jeanette remarked as the blonde bounced in her seat and grinned silently about something that only she found to be truly amusing. "I rather enjoyed getting to play at the grownups table though it was kind of scary at one point."

Silence drifted through the bar at that point and the night was slowly starting to turn into daylight marking the closing of the bar and time for them all to return to wherever it was that they planned on sleeping for the day and to truly ponder what was going to happen now. Truth be told Sebastian LaCroix had rocked what had been a solid foundation for the Camarilla of Los Angeles and some of them had been looking for a way out since he came into power, now they had one. It didn't mean that there wouldn't be an attack, one last attempt to regain some of the control that had been lost to the Anarch community.

Pushing himself away from the wall Nines stretched his arms over his head before he glanced over, Shayne was still sitting in the corner watching out the window as if she expected something or someone to reach up and grab her. Moving forward he leaned over the back of her chair watching as she turned on him quickly staring into his chest before lifting her head up.

"You really planning on sleeping in the bathroom or you have somewhere to go for the day?" He knew she couldn't go back to her old Haven either one of them and he was willing to offer up a room in his own if she needed somewhere to sleep.

Shayne shook her head before nodding toward Jack. "I'm staying at Jack's place for the day and then I'll come back here less you plan on being in Hollywood or something," Shayne offered shrugging her shoulders. It was a place to sleep and yet she caught a distinctly hurt look in Nines eyes when she turned him down, which made her feel about two inches tall.

"Move it out Kiddo the suns coming up soon," shouted Jack before he went down the stairs and paused at the bar waiting.

"No I'll be here," Nines finally said after Shayne was nearly to the exit, a part of him disappointed that she was so willing to go with Jack but he couldn't blame her after all he had just put her neck on the line. Yet he couldn't help thinking that when this was all said and done he was going to sit down and say a lot of things that he had been putting off. For now though it was better to walk away, after all he would have another chance on another day and for that matter he had an entire eternity ahead of him.

Outside Shayne had been on her way to beat up blue car that was parked across the street when she felt someone behind her and then heard them calling her name she stopped, seeing nothing at first Shayne was ready to cross the street when she heard the footsteps behind her once more. Certain now that she was being followed Shayne stopped and waited listening as the footsteps died down before she turned, gun drawn but kept low enough the kine wouldn't be able to see it she was shocked at who she saw.

"Mercurio?"


	5. Chapter Four: Calm Before the Storm

He had been at the trial that evening, seen what could have been nothing more than a bloodbath on the Anarchs part and then it suddenly turned into something else. A learning experience for those that had been there hoping to watch a beheading, it was then that the last thirty years of his life had seemed to be pointless. Unable to bring himself to walk into The Last Round, Mercurio had waited outside until he had seen them begin filing out and even then he had laid in wait. Finally when he had seen Shayne leaving with Jack, Mercurio had made his move, lost his nerve, and then decided that it was now or never.

"Can we talk in private," he asked watching the careful eyes of Smiling Jack peering at him from behind the driver's side window. "You can crash at my place if you want; this is kind of important Shayne."

On the one hand he hadn't killed her when she had gone to him to buy weapons, even though he knew that she was going after LaCroix yet a part of her wasn't so sure that she trusted him. "Tell you what how about you give me a ride to The Asylum, I need to stop in and check on Jeanette anyway." Who knew how that much excitement could effect the Malkavian mind.

It was a small token and Mercurio was smart enough to take it, watching as the car pulled away from the curb and Jack's taillights disappeared into the darkness he looked over motioning to his own car. "Do you want to drive; I mean if you have a driver's license?" He had to remember he was the enemy and if he allowed Shayne to drive his car he was hoping it would give her a sense of being in control of the situation. Instead of an answer he got a finger being held up to indicate that he should wait.

"Right I should be there in an hour, no you don't have to wait downstairs Jeanette just leave the door unlocked… Alright don't leave the door unlocked I'll text you when I pull up alright… Yeah for the whole day but I can't promise spending the entire night there… I have business to take care of right now… No it has nothing to do with him you loon and stay out of my head… Yeah I'll check and see about it, I'll let you know in an hour…" Crazy, at times Shayne was worried that it might rub off on her but then she simply reminded herself that she hadn't been all that sane to begin with. "I have a license but I should warn you now it was revoked about a year or so ago, that's why I was walking everywhere."

Revoked?

It caused him to lift an eyebrow at what Mercurio had considered to be the mild mannered Kindred before him and it made him wonder just what she was hiding behind that innocent expression as she snatched the keys from him. Of course Mercurio also took notice of what Romero had been talking about; despite being undead she was still a fine piece of ass. The kind that you stopped being concerned about the fact they didn't have a pulse and just enjoyed the view, as he moved to the car he couldn't help but imagining what it would be like if she got a job at Vesuvius. Now that would certainly be something that the ghoul would pay to see.

After several minutes of silence and the noise of the downtown area fading behind hem Shayne looked over taking her eyes off the road for just a few moments. "So you said that it was kind of important, what did you want to talk to me about that couldn't wait?"

"Up until tonight my alliance and loyalties to the Camarilla have been all but written in blood, but tonight I saw something I had never seen before. Maybe I ignored the truth before because I didn't think that I had a way out but I can't be a part of the Cam anymore." Mercurio began stopping to furrow his brow when he realized they were passing cars right and left and she had yet to take her foot off the gas pedal. Perplexed was a good word for what Shayne was, she couldn't understand what he was trying to tell her but it had been a long night and the need to sleep much like the sun were starting to creep up on her. "If you're asking me to embrace you than you need to talk to someone else Mercurio, if I did it than chances were you might end up being a Thinned Blood and that would be worse for you than anything else."

"Not embrace me, I enjoy being a ghoul and to be honest for the time being I enjoy having a beating heart in my chest," he started before stopping. "What I'm trying to say is that I want to be your ghoul."

The car came screeching to a halt as Shayne slammed on the brakes, though thankfully they were already in Santa Monica and at that time of the morning there was no one else around. He wanted to be her ghoul; did he know what had happened to the last ghoul that she'd had how Heather had died because the Sabbat had a vendetta against her? Had he lost his ever loving mind since the last time that she had seen him, Shayne was leaning toward the latter of the two and that he had no idea what he was asking of her. Then again the rational part of her mind, the part that was sneaky, underhanded, and liked to look out for just Shayne had thoughts of its own. He was sixty years old and had survived this long proof that he was durable and knew how to handle himself, there was also what the Thinned Blood Rosa had told her to trust the man on the couch and the lone wolf.

'_Is this really your logic Shayne, going on the words of a Thinned Blood Malkavian? Maybe you have started to loose your mind a little, though if that's the case than you might as well enjoy every minute of the insanity_.' Yep she was talking to herself again but that was something that Shayne could live with so long as she didn't start doing it out loud because that was when there was a real problem. Biting down on her lower lip as she pulled the car forward and into a parking spot near the Santa Monica Suites Shayne turned in the seat and looked over studying Mercurio's features under the dimness of the street light.

"Alright, will see how it works but Mercurio if you double cross me I'll kill you myself."

With that she was out of the car and walking toward The Asylum, the text message to Jeanette already sent. Her mind was reeling as she cut through the alleyway, moving past the Hospital and the Blood Bank before coming out along the side of the club. A few steps and a quick tapping on the door and she was meet with a slender pale hand reaching out and jerking her inside before quickly slamming the door. Silence all through the elevator ride to the top floor, even silence into the makeshift office bedroom, and then Jeanette launched into a new set of questions which left the already tired and cranky Brujah blinking in dismay.

"I've been thinking and I've decided that I know what's wrong with you," Jeanette began ignoring the fact that Shayne had already removed her boots as well as her jeans and looked as if she were just about ready to fall asleep on the floor. It wasn't until the shirt landed on her shoulder that Jeanette looked up and the blonde stopped to think about it. "Kitten are you listening to me?"

"The problem is that people keep trying to get inside my head and I don't want them there, I didn't like the person I was before my embrace and I would rather pull a V.V. and declare that person to be dead and buried." She had to admit that the Toreador stripper had a nice way of looking at things, after all Shayne saw the person that she had been as being weak and therefore broken and they were not the same two people. "So please you can get into any other part of my body you want but you leave my head alone do you understand that Jeanette."

She looked crestfallen; it was odd that Shayne snapped at her because ever since Therese had died Jeanette had felt as if Shayne was the sister she never had. Now though her face read annoyance, exhaustion, more than the compassion and consideration that it normally did. Yet Jeanette couldn't stop herself she wanted to get up and crawl around inside Shayne's head and wrap up in the warm blankets of her mind.

"Kitten if you let go of the past it would stop dragging you down into these rages that you've been going through," the blonde began ignoring the fact that the younger Kindred had gotten into the heart-shaped bed and was falling asleep or she had been. "If you don't let go of all the hurt and the pain that you faced in life it's going to continue to drag you down, if that happens you'll end up a lifeless shell constantly struggling with the past. I think it might be best to let go of it all Danny-boy, Cash, your sister, Heather Poe, none of it was your fault Duckling."

Sitting straight up Shayne thought about hitting her, and wondered if it would be possible to actually hit someone hard enough that you could take their head off. "If you ever breathe a word of any of that to anyone I will personally see to it that the entire city finds out you and Therese shared the same body." Was she serious, hardly but she wanted Jeanette to stop talking.

Jeanette sat down on the edge of the bed taking careful notice of the clock to make sure they still had plenty of time. "Your brother disappeared and that wasn't your fault Shayne you have to understand that, you let it eat you alive and torture you, the accident with your sister that wasn't your fault either," she continued talking even thought Shayne had the pillow pulled over her head and was humming to herself. "Heather, sadly I hate to be the one saying this because the statement is kind of an ironic one but she wasn't all there in the head and if you don't let go of your ex you're going to miss moving forward. So far you've managed to miss all the signs that the Knight has been giving you."

She groaned, cursed and pushed herself up before glaring. "My brother did not run away from home, Danny went to college and then disappeared because of the bimbo that he was living with. I went there to look for him and met Cash; he cheated on me with his ex girlfriend. My sister died because I was young, stupid, thought I was invulnerable and ran off an embankment in the Hollywood Hills. My living through that was a freak twist of fate," Shayne offered. "Heather, don't you ever talk like that about Heather she had no idea she what she was getting into and neither did I. I was naïve and stupid and there was no way of knowing how deep things were going to get," pausing she looked over, her face softening as she took in the childlike and almost frightened look on Jeanette's face. "As for letting go, I let go of Cash a very long time ago. When it ended to be exact, and as for the night giving me signs I have no idea what that means."

Damn Malkavian insights, damn Malkavian's in general, Shayne was fuming as she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face into the pillow. If she hadn't been the one to prompt Jeanette into killing Therese than she probably would have never gone back to Santa Monica, but she felt guilty about that more so because she'd had her own selfish agenda in hand when she had done it. Not to get her wrong as she liked Jeanette but she couldn't stand that insight that she got, talking about things she knew nothing about as if she did. Grumbling again before she finally fell into a semi deep sleep Shayne shifted onto her side.

**The Last Round, Downtown LA**

Three hours since they had opened, Damsel had been standing on the lower level watching the door and still no Nines. Jack had appeared, Skelter had taken his place at the top of the stairs but Nines was absent which was unlike him. Aside from when he had been hiding due to the Blood Hunt that had been called on him he was always there in case someone needed him or there was something going on. As the minutes had begun ticking into hours she had grown more and more concerned but there was no way that she could leave her current post to go out and begin searching. The troops that had been sent out reported there was no answer at his Haven and Isaac hadn't seen him.

Damsel had been putting off calling Shayne but she no longer had a choice, they needed someone that could move around with a great amount of ease and that wasn't bound to staying in one spot to keep an eye on things. One ring, then two, and finally on the third ring it went to voice mail and Damsel got that sinking feeling.

"Kiddo was what that ghoul Mercurio last night, try calling him and see if she hasn't just crashed there and forgotten to get up,' Jack said, he wasn't concerned and he wasn't worried at least not about Shayne. She was tough and he knew why but that was a story for another place and time. "I'll go into Santa Monica and see if I can hunt her up, she could be with Jeanette."

Once again the phone started to ring, once and then on the second ring Damsel heard the distinct sound of someone picking up. "Is Shayne with you?" It came out crasser sounding than what she had expected it too but there was nothing at all that she could do to change that.

Mercurio shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "No she isn't with me, she went to the Asylum last night but she's supposed to stop by here later on do you want me to have her call you?" He asked shifting until he was sitting on the edge of the couch looking at the door.

"No I do not want you to wait and have her call me, get your Cammy ass up and go get her I want her to call me now," Damsel snapped and started to slam the phone down before she thought. "Talk to her alone though I don't want or need Jeanette playing cowboy right now." Not with Nines missing she didn't, what Damsel needed was for things to go smoothing but she honestly suspected the Camarilla of this.

**The Asylum, Santa Monica**

Music blaring, bodies crashing into each other on the dance floor and a large burly bartender glaring at him as he made his way toward the elevator. He had almost been there when he spotted Knox headed for him at full speed and Mercurio honestly didn't have time or patience to deal with him, at this point the impression that he made on Shayne now would influence her decision in the end and he knew that. Brushing Knox off as the elevator door opened Mercurio stepped inside thankful that it closed as quickly as what it had, now all he had to do was make it past Jeanette and he would be home free.

Outside the door he could hear an argument taking place inside, and while he should have gone in Mercurio was curious enough to listen.

"Your starting to sound like you believe that shit Jeanette."

"Have you ever wondered about it, why, I mean it makes a lot of sense in the end if you really get down to it?"

"I don't think about it I just do and if you don't put the tweezers down I'll bit you and not in that fun kinky way you're hoping for."

"If you won't listen to me about this Duckling will you at least listen to me about the explosion and your shoulder?"

"It will work its way out on its own Jeanette, I really don't feel like being touched right now so will you please hand me my shirt. I need to get down to The Last Round, see what's been going on with the Camarilla." There was a lull before a softer voice could be heard coming from the same person. "I promise I'll stop by later and check on you alright, but for right now I really do need to go Jeanette and I'm sorry if I snapped at you. I guess even with LaCroix gone my mood and temperament haven't really improved."

"Its okay Kitten I think I've been pushing you even though I know you aren't ready," rustling followed before a giggle. "You get dressed and I'll go see whose ease dropping at the door."

As the door opened Mercurio caught a glimpse of blonde before it disappeared back behind a changing screen and then reappeared only to give him an odd stare, or that might have been the fact Jeanette Voreman's eyes were two completely different colors. Shoving his hands into his pockets Mercurio wondered what they had been arguing about as he waited glad to see Shayne finally emerge from behind the screen. She had changed clothes this time wearing a pair of dark colored jeans and a pale blue turtle neck, the one thing that didn't change were the boots that looked as if they had seen better days and were all but falling apart at the seams but they were only matched by the leather bag that was starting to fall apart as well.

"I need to talk to you in private," this was twice in less than twenty-four hours that he had told her that same thing.

"Sure thing I was getting ready to stop by and see you anyway, I need some more ammo before I head to The Last Round," Shayne answered giving a fair well wave in Jeanette's direction before she all but darted out the door to the elevator, leaving Mercurio with the option of either catching up to her or waiting for it to come back. "She's been in rare form since last night and then she wanted to try removing debris from my shoulder with a pair of tweezers, which didn't go over well," she added as the elevator started to move, more than anything else at that moment and time Shayne couldn't stand the silence.

If Shayne had known the turn the night was about to take she might well have thrown her hands up in the air but as it was she was blissfully unaware of the events that were about to unfold. Still in the back of her mind she had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right, and when things weren't right that normally meant she was going to have to jump through fiery hoops.


	6. A Message From the Author

Dear Readers:I am writing to let you know that I have not abandon or given up on this I do live in Kentucky and we are still recovering from the recent ice storm that knocked out power and phone lines to much of the county, not to mention a massive amount of tree limbs and debris due to the ice and snow. Because of this my internet connection is at times somewhat shaky and they are still working on the phone lines so occasionally we are without a landline (I am on dial-up). I have several chapter's for Chronicles of a Former Cammy Do Girl and a Prequel to Shayne's story in the works and I am slowly transferring them over from pen and paper to Microsoft so that they can be published. Please bare with me as updates will be published sometimes this weekend or in the first parts of next you for reading and for all the comments that have been posted. Sincerely, The Deb of Night


	7. Chapter Five: Gunshots in the Night

He in fact wasn't missing at all though Nines had no idea that they had been searching for him. The night's events had been playing over and over again in his mind and he had gotten caught on the what if of it all. What would have happened if he had been just a few seconds slower would it have been like what happened to his wife and his daughter, they had both died because he had a moment of a weakness. Just wanting to see them one more time he had allowed for Archon Raine to extract his vengeance on them, and Nines had never forgiven himself for not doing more to save them but he hadn't known what to do. His sire had been executed, the Anarchs were fighting a loosing battle and once he lost his family Nines had left but in the end his past had shaped the man that he had become.

Arriving in Los Angeles he had met the Anarch Leader there, who had been like a surrogate Sire to him, then the Kuei-Jin had come and he had fallen in battle like so many others. Now he was the defacto leader a title that he didn't like having but one that had been resting on his shoulders, the pressure was beginning to build as now a war amongst the two sects was imminent. There would be no way to avoid a massive loss of life, but more importantly if they went to war they risked exposing themselves to the kine around them. Even with all of that he couldn't get that kiss out of his mind, there had been no explanation for it she had simply done it and then left.

"You know I spend more time tracking you down," she mused as Shayne dropped down onto the grass beside Nines. Her finding him this time had to do with what Jack referred to as her nose like a blood hound, and the fact that once she picked up on a scent she would track it for as long as possible. "They need you right now and I don't have to tell you that Nines because you already know it, they need you."The voice of reason, the voice of insanity, but most of all it was a voice that he had found himself listening to more and more as time went on. "You track me down and I save your ass, I think were even," he offered. "At least you don't have to worry about being attacked by a werewolf this time around though," it was a small victory since neither had recovered from the last time. "I know they need me Kid but that doesn't stop me from wonder sometimes if I'm the right person for this."

"You are, I know you are. Without you we have no chance of revitalizing the Anarch movement, more and more people see your passion and the way that you lead and they come around to our side Nines. Not because they fear you, but because they respect you and because you lead by example out on the streets not from your Ivory Tower."

Looking over and watching the profile of the woman sitting beside him Nines found there to be some sort of comfort in it, an odd feeling to think you could find comfort in another one of the damned and the fallen but he did. "What did Mercurio want?""To come over to the dark side, he found out that we have milk and cookies," Shayne answered before giving a sinister grin that was followed by the closest thing Nines had ever heard to a laugh come from her. "Were on a trial period of him being my ghoul and before you tell me ghouls are trouble Mercurio is sixty years old Nines, he's been around the block a time or two and if we have him than I can effectively cut of the Camarilla's main weapon supplies." "How do you figure that?""Fat Larry, he calls me his Cleopatra Jones and for the right price he wouldn't dare sell to anyone that wasn't on my approved list. Trip in Santa Monica doesn't want any trouble and if he got wind that these new faces were working for the police he would close up shop, not to mention the fact that most of what he sells is first grade weaponry. Slater at the Quickie Mart in Hollywood is a stoner, not to mention he is in Anarch Territory. Chinatown belongs to the Tung and while they don't know it their being control by the Nosferatu and for the right price Gary will make it very difficult for them to buy weapons from anyone." Shayne said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "That leaves Mercurio, who if he's my ghoul why sell to the side that might kill your Master. He sold to me only because he thought that I was a member of the Camarilla and because I saved his life and his ass." There was an instance that he wondered if weapons were her only reason. "Are you sure that's the only reason you want him as your ghoul or are you trying to replace Heather in someway," or was she attracted to him, it was a thought that had crossed his mind but Nines felt that was better to leave alone until another time. "I would never tell Jeanette this but she is right, Heather was flawed from the start. She was so desperately seeking someone to love her, to replace the family that she lost and I think in me she saw a family that couldn't die. What she didn't realize was that while I was harder to kill, she was still only human. I don't want to replace her but Mercurio has given me no reason not to trust him or to honor his request and in this life we have nothing but out honor and our curse to guide us."

"Alright I'm not going to tell you no," he couldn't tell her no that was the crazy thing, if she wanted Mercurio as a ghoul than that was what she would have and Nines would say nothing and he would advise the other to say nothing. "Was there any word on the Camarilla?"Shayne shook her head no before she glanced up at the sky and then sighed softly to herself, another thing that Jeanette was right about was that she hadn't let go of her past. She was clinging to it in a way that made her wonder if she didn't need to face it head on, but that was for another place and time when things had began to calm down at least some. Rising to her feet suddenly aware of the awkwardness of the situation Shayne looked down before she furrowed her brow trying to think of something witty to say but nothing came to her.

"Why did you kiss me that night when I sent you to Strauss?" He wanted to know or rather needed to know the answer to that question; even as he stood it was burning in the back of his mind.

Blinking it had been the last ting that she expected and the one thing that she didn't have an answer too, really what was she supposed to tell him. The truth would have been a start but the words didn't come as easily as what she wanted it too, in fact the truth was caught somewhere in her throat. "Because I could." The bottom line was that was the truth she had done it because she could, because whatever she wanted to say she figured would have fallen on deaf ears, and because at that point she had been certain that she would never get another chance to do it again.

Because she could, Nines was tempted to say something about that remark but he didn't, had the tables been turned he wouldn't even have given that much of an answer so he couldn't rightly expect her to just hand over one. Changing gears as he looked up before standing Nines cast a glance around the room and then sighed. "Let's go back before Strauss has time to plot the next move." They were without a Prince which meant that they were going to be looking to the Tremere Regent to plan and plot.

**The Regent's Chantry  
Downtown, LA  
**  
"You don't seem to understand the dire situation that this puts us in," the Ventrue Primogen began pacing back and forth around the room slowly. After the previous night and upon discovering that Nines Rodriguez wasn't dead and that The Regent had known that he had been wondering what else had gone on underneath the Primogen's noses. "Was what they told about Allistar Grout the truth Strauss?"It had been he had known that it was but Maxamillion Strauss had turned a blind eye to it all. Thinking that if he did someone would take Sebastian out of office, he had been right but now it seemed the cost of that was at a greater expense than he had imagined. "She would lie to farther their cause and you know that, I think that the biggest question in play here is not the matter of Allistar Grout but the question can be we assured that what the Anarchs have told us is the truth."

The Toreador Primogen looked over from her seat before she lifted an eyebrow in question; even she was beginning not to buy this song and dance. Yes she believed in the traditions of the Camarilla but she didn't think they were being used the way they had been intended. "If it is the truth than we have been fighting along side the Kuei-Jin in battle as well as allowing the slaughter of the Malkavian Primogen. I for one would like the chance to hear the Anarchs out, mostly the young Anarch Agent after all she saw first hand what it was that Sebastian LaCroix was doing." She wanted answers but more importantly she wanted the truth. "I would like to hear her reasoning for turning her back on the Camarilla as well."

"You keep talking about changing things from the inside out," Strauss fumed. "The Anarchs don't want change and they don't understand reasoning." "Yet they seemed to be reasonable last night, instead of opening fire they proved their point without the death of a single person. I do have to give Rodriguez credit for that, because even I had to sit back and question their motives," the Brujah Primogen replied leaning back in the chair as he looked out the window to what was left of the Venture Tower. "If we linger on this they will make plans for war and after last night I am not assured that we will have the needed backing for such an event."

It was impossible for him to fathom that they would be so concerned about this matter, after all Strauss hadn't seen it as any kind of victory in fact to him it had merely gone to prove that the Anarchs were grasping at straws by their demonstration. "Do you in fact think that the fledgling would take an audience with you so soon after LaCroix?" He saw that as being truly doubtful, yet the eyes looking back at him made it very plain that was in fact what they were hoping for. The cities Elders didn't want to stick their neck out in a war but they would strive to get the truth if it meant they might get to make an example and he wasn't about to let that happen.

**The Last Round  
Downtown L.A.**

Sitting at a table in the back of the second level Shayne had her head dropped back and her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds around her, for no other reason than there seemed to be a lack of movement coming from the Camarilla. Nines had given the order not to strike unless they did and waiting was literally driving her insane, it wasn't until she heard the faint cry of a motorcycle that she lifted her head. Thinking at first it was Jack until the roar of a car followed; Shayne rose and stretched her arms over her head before she moved to the top of the stairs.

"What the hell is this shit?" Damsel asked reaching behind herself for the shotgun that had been hung in the storage room. All evening something had been wrong Damsel had felt it shaking her down into her core like when the Plague Bearer's had been loose in the city and the CDC called in. "Did the Cam have to call in outside help."

Shayne shook her head as she didn't have the answer to that question she was more interested in what was taking place on the other side of that door. "I don't know but I'm going to go find out," she called taking the steps two at a time before she made her way to the door stopping and taking in a deep breath before opening it and instantly she had wished she hadn't as the first thing she noted was a thug laying dead off in the alleyway.

Her first guess had been right as the moment she opened the door Jack gave her a grin and then winked before pulling the cigar from his mouth. "Kiddo you have managed to stir up one of the biggest shit storms in Kindred history let me tell you that much," he started laughing before disappearing up the stairs his booming voice heard of the sounds of the music that was playing.

Before she could ask questions thought the door way was once again darkened as Mercurio walked through, his chiseled features taunt as if he were holding something in before he broke into a grin. Honestly she was glad that everyone else seemed so damn happy because Shayne wasn't, in fact on the list of words she would have used to describe herself happy was no one of them. Grumbling as she made her way back up the stairs motioning for Damsel to follow, she dropped back down onto the table she had been sitting at previously.

"The Toreador Primogen is apparently requesting an audience with our little friend over there, she wants to know the truth behind LaCroix and Strauss actions," Jack roared as he broke into another fit of boisterous laughter. "You know if this keeps up their going to be running the Tremere Regent out of here."

"No they won't, running the Regent out of office is the last thing they have in mind and you know why?" It was a rhetorical question that really wasn't supposed to have an answer. "If they booted his Cammy ass out of there it would mean they would have to pull their heads out of the sand and actually do something." Shayne didn't think for a single second that this had anything at all to do with ejecting Strauss from his current place and the longer he was left there it meant the more comfortable he would be. "We've been nice, we've played fair, and you know what fuck it I'm tired of being nice. I want to get even with that egotistic Tremere bastard for not stopping LaCroix."

Eyes were staring at her as if she had either had a brilliant idea or was insane, but given the amount of time she spent with a Malkavian the latter of that might well have been very true. Looking back with her arms folded over her chest Shayne narrowed her eyes, there was no truth left to give, no more words left to be spoken, and more importantly if they were going to keep a grasp on things they needed take control now.

"Cammy is right, we've played fair and now it's our turn to be dirty. Those capes have been shoving their laws and believes on us and I say no more. We kicked the Camarilla out on their asses sixty years ago and we can do it again," Damsel said in agreement as she eyed the men that were still looking at them with wide eyes.

Before anyone could say anything else however the newscaster breaking in on whatever had been playing in the background caught their attention and Shayne narrowed her eyes sharing a look with Jack before she started to inch toward the door.

"Just a few moments ago gun fire erupted in The Asylum in Santa Monica, many were injured and authorities are speculating that the owner of the club, Jeanette Voreman is the victim of foul play. Voreman's office was coated in blood and riddled with bullet holes but no body has been found as of yet."

"Now tell me that we need to take a peaceful approach to things."

"You don't know that this was the Camarilla Kid and taking them head on isn't going to help right now, we need a plan." Nines started realizing that his words were falling on deaf ears.

"Screw your plan, the last one didn't work so hot now did it? It didn't drive them out and people are still sitting on the fence," she snapped as Shayne reached for her jacket and then narrowed her eyes. "This is Strauss handy work and I know it, the first thing I'm going to do is go find Jeanette and see if she is still alive," whether she was or not Shayne didn't know but she was willing to bet that she could guess where she would go. "This was Strauss, think about it the Toreador Primogen want's to chat with me and he's trying to make sure that I'm distracted."

Nines had to admit that this cast a huge shadow of doubt upon the Tremere Regent but he couldn't figure out why it was that he wouldn't draw Shayne out into the open if he wanted her silence, unless that was what this was. An attempt to draw her out into the open so that he could do her in, turning to say something else to the younger Brujah Nines found that she was already long gone.

"Damn her, she has the attention span of a grain of salt sometimes and she isn't thinking." He fumed folding his arms over his chest as he looked around. "Damsel you and I are going to go pay a little visit to the Primogen. Skelter you track down Shayne before she either slaughters Strauss or get's slaughtered."

Before Nines could finish Jack shook his head, the Kid was his responsibility even if none of them knew that. "Skelter can stay here and keep an eye on things, I'll go find Kiddo and make sure she doesn't light Strauss up like a Christmas tree." Not that Jack was really going to stop her but the Tremere were dangerous there was a reason why no one trusted them.

**The Ocean House Hotel  
Santa Monica, CA**

Someone had been there; Shayne could smell the faint scent of blood and gun powder. On the ground near the grate leading to the Hotel was Jeanette's necklace, the red satin ribbon baring the symbol for the Malkavian clan on it. She couldn't have gotten far and chances were the ghost that dwelled inside weren't making it easy on her; they didn't often respect those that came into their territory for any reason. As she inched closer Shayne could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, knowing that someone was watching her intently almost studying her.

"Beckett do you realize how close I came to shooting you?" She asked still not certain that she wasn't going to pelt a few at the Gangrel Scholar. Beckett only grinned, his wolf like eye appearing more vibrant in the dim light around them.

"Young one I could say the same for you if I hadn't already been expecting to find you here." He had seen the blonde running through the courtyard of the hotel and inside followed by a stream of curses and then silence. "Your first question should have been why I am here."

"Well I was going to ask that next but then I remembered I was looking for someone, plotting to blow the Tremere Regent into the nest century, oh and I have an appointment to get my nails done." replied Shayne as she looked around and then sighed shoving her hands into her pockets. "Why are you here Beckett?"

"A Brujah concerned with keeping up appearances, I must say that is rather shocking and a little surprising." Beckett countered with a sarcastic tone to his voice. "Well actually I have something that I thought you might be interested in hearing about, of course there is a matter of you doing something for me."

"Find the Malkavian first Beckett and then will talk about whatever you have going on," Shayne answered, her curiosity had been perked but she wasn't going to admit that. Or it might have been the fact that she held a good deal of trust in Beckett, starting to say something else she stopped when she heard something moving behind them before pivoting on her heels. "Damn it Mercurio." He was efficient none the less, but the fact he seemed to be able to track her movements was something that Shayne was still getting use too unless he had been following Jeanette, deciding to let it go for now Shayne looked back at the hotel and groaned. "Alright Gentlemen I suppose your going to tell me Ladies first huh."


	8. Chapter Six: Cries in the Dark

"Mr. Rodriguez I must say that I was expecting to see your young friend rather than to see you stepping into my parlor," the Toreador Primogen began before she nodded to an over stuffed red velvet chair. "Is what she said true about the Kuei-Jin leader and LaCroix framing you for killing Allistar Grout as well as an alliance with those devils?"

Damsel started to say something but caught the look that she was getting from Nines; instead she turned to study the paintings that were hanging on the wall. It was hard to tell if this woman was sincere in what she was asking or if this was simply some sort of stall tactic that was being used by the Cam to throw them off long enough to come up with a plan. She had no love or trust for this woman and the look on her face should have made that something that was very apparent.

Nines shrugged his shoulders before he leaned back in the chair giving her a clear view of both the grenade and the gun that was holstered at his side just in case she thought it would be wise to try something with him. "I advised Shayne not to come and then someone decided to shoot up The Asylum in Santa Monica, now she seems to think that it was Strauss that did that," she had yet to be wrong about who had been behind something and while he had put up argument for the sake of reasoning it reeked of the Tremere Regent. "However yes what she said is right, LaCroix had a Blood Hunt called on me for the murder of Allistar Grout and Strauss sat idly by despite the fact he knew what he was doing."

The Toreador Primogen looked as if she were about to be sick as she spoke. "It was never supposed to be like this but when LaCroix took power it seemed as if it might be time for change." She shook her head sadly before narrowing her eyes, she was sealing her own fate in what she was about to say. "Strauss planned the attack on The Asylum, he was hoping that it would draw your Agent out into the open and he could in essence stop her before she had begun talking to Primogen. I think he discovered that night at the theater when allowed to speak she is far more eloquent than most of the Brujah." Including the Primogen of the city who had a tasteless sense of humor."Strauss set up the attack," Damsel asked before she shifted her weight on her feet and looked down at Nines. "We need to go, if he's trying to draw her out chances are he's done a good job of it. She's crazy about that damn Malkavian."

**The Ocean House Hotel  
Santa Monica, CA**

"Something isn't right here."

"So you caught on to that one too young one," Beckett asked as he looked around, there was something strange hanging in the air around them. An odd feeling that he couldn't put his finger on and something that oddly familiar like he had felt that kind of power before. "Are you sure that this is where your Malkavian friend ended up?"

For a moment or so Shayne had her doubts about that but then again she had tracked the scent to the Ocean House and to the best of her knowledge since Therese, Jeanette hadn't been there. "This is where she went but I don't think that were alone," she turned casting a glance over her shoulder at Mercurio. "Get out of here now, seriously go. I'll be fine just get the hell out of here."

"Bravo Neonate, I knew you would show up sooner or later what with your high moral standings," Strauss said as he started his accession down the didn't know it but he had just managed to buy enough time for her to get Mercurio out and level the playing field a bit more, not to mention the fact that Strauss wasn't the only one that was present. There was someone else there and if it hadn't been for the fact she knew scents she would have passed it off as something else, yet there was something strange about this. Comforting almost, but that was beside the point her biggest problem was that if she couldn't see it than she couldn't kill it? It was then that her attention was torn from her thoughts when Strauss crashed through the floor landing in the basement.

"Go now Mercurio. He's a Tremere no one trust them and there's a reason for that, with Beckett here I stand a damn good chance of walking away but you don't," Shayne whispered as she reached into the holster at her side drawing the Colt Anaconda out, there was no way she was going for close range combat with Strauss. "If I'm not out soon take the sewer into Downtown and blow that fucking Chantry up."

Beckett remained silent until Mercurio had left it was only then that he turned to look at the young Brujah he had become so fond of, most in her case would have fled the moment that the floor had caved in but she hadn't and he respected that in a sense. "Were not alone, are you familiar with the Lasombra clan?"

"The whose it clan," she was perplexed and waiting for Strauss to figure out how to make it back to them or something nasty to come in their direction. "You know Beckett now really isn't the time for you to be giving me a lesson on the different clans, less you plan on breaking out something I've never seen before."

He would take that as a resounding no, but then again she was young kept close to the Anarch elders and there for was probably shielded from the Sabbat clans in general. "Their mostly members of the Sabbat, they have the ability to control the shadows and the Abyss." He was giving her the short ended Clans for Dummies version of things.

"Lovely Beckett really, you know I find you truly thrilling but what does that have to do with the pissed off Tremere in the basement," damn that had been an elevator apparently Strauss hadn't landed on something sharp and shiny like she had been hoping. "You know if I don't make it out of here I plan on haunting you."  
He had been trying to subtly tell her that he knew who their other guest was, but why a Lasombra was present was far beyond Beckett. He couldn't think of why the Sabbat would send and Agent unless it was an attempt to kill his young friend, of course the thought of a Tremere and Lasombra in the same area made him a little more nervous than he would have liked to have been. Yet it made no sense either, but Beckett wasn't willing to let his guard down as he wasn't sure just how far Max was willing to go. Before the Regent appeared the area was blanketed in darkness, so thick that Beckett could see nothing and while he could have called out he doubted that Shayne would have been able to hear him. Instead he remained silent and perfectly still less he draw more attention to himself before he knew exactly what was going on, after all battle was only a small portion of brawn and the rest was strategy.

"Amazingly I continue to save your ass time and time again and yet here you are playing the pawn once more."

Had she been able to see Shayne would have been pissed but as it was she was at a disadvantage and there for the common sense to be polite kicked in or it might have been self preservation. "I'm not playing the pawn, besides that you forget it is not whether you win or loose but whether or not you bought it in the end." She let her hand relax only a little on the gun, after all if she couldn't see Strauss he couldn't see her. "Why save me, I've slaughtered more Sabbat than I care to talk about."

There was a laugh before the voice seemed to fade a little as if moving back slightly. "Because despite the choices that you have made and the actions that you have taken, we share more in common than just being the children of Caine." There was a pregnant pause. "When the shadows lift strike and strike fast, he is Tremere and therefore you are at a disadvantage what with being Brujah and all."

"Don't under estimate me, if you've been following me all along than you know I can handle myself fairly well and I'm not exactly alone there is Beckett." Not to mention the fact that Jeanette was lurking around there somewhere. "Besides all you have to do is give a Malkavian a toothbrush and their far more dangerous than a Brujah with a shot gun." Which she wished she had a shotgun.

**Last Round  
Downtown LA  
**  
"So Strauss planned all of this, but what about Jeanette," Skelter questioned leaning back against the wall, he wasn't fond of Malkavian's but that didn't stop him from wondering. "Has anyone found her?"

Nines shook his head before he shrugged his shoulder, his massive frame slouching back in a chair. "No, Shayne was going to go looking for her and as of right now she's not answering her cell phone, I can't get a hold of that damn ghoul she has, and no one has reported seeing her lurking around Santa Monica." He didn't like not knowing but most of all he didn't like feeling as if there was nothing at all that he could do and Nines couldn't stand just sitting on the side lines. "Rally the troops, Strauss made a blatant attack on Jeanette and therefore it's open season on the Camarilla."

"Hell yeah," Damsel quipped as she grinned, she had been waiting to get a chance to go head to head with the Cam for some time and now she was finally going to have that chance. "Let's go roast those Cammy bitches."

"There's no time for that tonight, the sun is going to be up soon have them meet us here at sun down tomorrow. I'm going to call Isaac and see what it is that he has hidden in the Asian Theater," as he said it Nines was mentally making a list of the things that needed to be done and in the back of his mind he was wondering just what the hell was taking place at the Ocean House Hotel. "Where is Jack?

"Skelter shrugged his shoulders before he looked over. "He was going into Santa Monica and as far as I know he hasn't come back just yet, but that doesn't mean he won't show up soon." Alright so he was far more hopeful than he might have been otherwise and despite all his protest he felt his concerns beginning to mount the same as Nines was. They were still missing the Santa Monica's Baron, Jack was no were to be found, and Shayne had left hours ago with no word since. "After I've gotten the word out I'm going to The Ocean House."

"No your not," Damsel countered folding her arms over her head before she shifted her weight on her feet. "We don't have enough time for you to do both, I'll go. I've spent enough time sewer surfing lately I know my way around," she added with a confident note in her voice.

Nines nodded his head, Damsel was right after all them both going would cause nothing but confusion it was better to divide and conquer at this point. "Look for Jeanette Damsel," he didn't forget for a second that she was Malkavian and it was possible that she could have merely wondered off somewhere after the shooting. "Check at the Pier and back at The Asylum and you might want to check the parking garage, chances are she's dazed, confused, and holed up somewhere."

"Right," sure she was going out to chase after some crazy kook though Damsel found herself hoping that Nines was right and they weren't looking at the worst possible scenario, the sad truth in this was the fact that you could honestly hope for the best and it would be the worst for another Kindred. "I'll go now and see if I can find her, with the sun coming up she might try to make it back to the Asylum."

**Santa Monica, CA  
**  
"Anything," Damsel questioned as she looked around taking note of the fact the streets seemed to be almost completely empty.

Jack shook his head before he groaned, he couldn't find that crazy Malkavian and he couldn't find Shayne nor was her ghoul anywhere to be seen. "If I didn't know better I would think that they just disappeared but that's not possible." He hoped that it wouldn't, someone disappearing with no reason would send the Kindred into a frenzy much like the Sarcophagus had. "Mercurio's apartment is empty and no one has seen Strauss but one of the sewer rats did say they had seen Beckett headed into the sewers toward the Ocean House Hotel."

Damsel was confused as to why Beckett would have been there in the first place, the last she had heard he was off to search for the next great mystery of the Kindred community. "Why would Beckett be going to the Ocean House, that place has been condemned and useless since that fire broke out." She was perplexed and nothing she came up with seemed to make the least bit of sense but at the same time the fact that they were dealing with Beckett gave way into a lot of insight. "Sewer surfing?"

"Would look that way," Jack stated, he hated the idea of mucking around in the sewers but he saw no other way and if the sun came up before they could get back the sewer was where they would end up anyway. "I guess you're expecting me to say ladies first."

'There wasn't a Kindred alive that wouldn't stand in rock star awe of Jack.' Damsel could recall telling Shayne that one of the first times they had actually met and spoken and she hated to admit that she counted herself amongst one of those Kindred. At the moment however her awe would have to wait if they were going to make it to what was left of the once prestigious hotel before the sun came up and it was then that Damsel was met with another thought, and she found herself hoping that there was still some of the hotel left somewhere.

"I'm expecting you to get your ass down there in that sewer instead standing here looking around at me like some love sick teenager going all crazy for a teacher," Jack snapped as he lifted the grate with his foot and then slid it out of the way. "Between a Malkavian on the loose and possibly injured and Kiddo being pissed off we don't have time for you to go all creepy on me."

**The Ocean House Hotel**

The shadows lifted and as he looked around Beckett saw no one but the Tremere Regent, it was as if his young Brujah friend had simply vanished into thin air. Turning his head to look in a different direction he noted that the Regent seemed to be just as perplexed about the disappearance but before Beckett could begin shooting off with his own brand of dry humor he saw a blonde form emerging from one of the rooms. The Malkavian Baroness looking battered and worn but no worse for wear given what she must have gone through however her sudden movements were ultimately going to be her undoing, Beckett could already see that. From the rafters above them Shayne groaned silently, she had been in the perfect place to take Strauss out with a single swipe from the blade she had gotten at the Hallowbrook Hotel and then Jeanette appeared. What had taken her aback however was that Jeanette didn't look quit like herself and it was a look that Shayne had seen before, and at that moment she was trying to decide which was worse the fact that she was being hunted by a Tremere or the fact that Therese had made a sudden appearance. Catching Beckett's eye as she lowered herself to the ground just behind Strauss, Shayne moved up closer behind him before she shook her head and lifted her arms swinging as hard as she could.

The strike had come too late as Strauss who was mad with either a lust for power or drive to cover his own ass cast a fatal shot of his own and when she lifted her head and looked over Shayne stood un-moving. Jeanette seemed to begin quivering and then shaking un-controllably before all of the sudden she simply exploded, the blast covering the walls, Beckett, Shayne, and most of the hallway with a thick coating of blood. Frozen in place without blinking Shayne barely noticed when she was knocked back into the wall hitting it hard enough to cave in the wood and leave an impression of her body in its wake. Nor did she feel anything when Beckett pulled her to her feet and toward the door into the soft misting rain that had begun to come down sometime ago.

"The Regent is dead and we can not remain here much longer young one, the sun will be rising soon and while I have ways to prevent it's effect you do not," Beckett said as he looked around the courtyard of the hotel wondering for an instance where Mercurio had gone only to get the answer to his question when he saw a figure looming near the now open sewer grate. "Come on Shayne."

**Santa Monica Sewer System**

Finally moving her feet though the action was mechanical at best Shayne started forward toward the open sewer grate, her mind replaying over the events that had taken place time and time again and in the end it ultimately ended the same way. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn't paused or hesitated would Jeanette have still lived and why had Therese suddenly made another appearance, unless that had to do with what happened back at the club. Snapping back into the world around her Shayne looked around wondering who was screaming until she took note of the fact that the sound was coming from her own throat. Try as she might she couldn't make the sound stop and while she didn't want to the Beast was slowly taking over, and for the first time Shayne understood what Jack had meant about it wearing your skin.

Then it all went black.


	9. Chapter Seven: Reflection

This Chapter was inspired by the song 'The River' by Good Charlotte.

And a special thanks to Maraluch whose eloquent writing inspired me to continue with this story and keep going with it.

___________________

**The Last Round  
Downtown LA**

As the sun had gone down Nines watched in silence as Shayne slipped out the door and disappeared down the street, a part of him wanted to follow her but another part knew that it was better to leave her alone. Catching Damsel, his hand pressing into the center of her chest Nines shook his head before he sighed softly. This was the hardest lesson that they faced, not combat, or the lies, the wars, but the causalities of war. That even while they might have had a shot at immortality in an instant those closest to them could be gone in flash, and all that you would have left would be the memories that you carried deep within your soul.

"Let her go Damsel," he said it but it was hard, since her embrace he had periodically been picking Shayne's ass up out of the fire, teaching her what he could here and there but this time no amount of mentoring or speeches could ease what she was going through. "She'll come back when she's ready too." Damsel looked up before she shook her head and almost laughed, but she held it in. Situations like this weren't her strong point and she had never claimed them to be, but even she didn't think Nines believed what he was saying. Instead she walked away from the door and went to the window looking out at the lights and pondering her own existence.

**Somewhere in Hollywood**

She walked until she couldn't walk anymore and then finally dropped down onto the ground lying back so that she could stare up at the sky. In her hand Shayne was clutching the necklace that Jeanette had worn, the red satin ribbon with the Malkavian clan symbol on the pendant. Tightening her fingers around the material until she could feel the symbol imprinting on her hand she gave mournful sigh of her own, but that was when her mind wondered to something else. It had been hanging around her own neck for so long that she had forgotten about it, as it was almost like a second skin. Reaching up with her free hand she tugged the chain pulling the necklace up and into the light, a gold guitar pick with a rose etched on it. At the time she had thought nothing at all about that rose or its meaning but now she understood it, the symbol for the Toreador clan.

When she had gone looking for answers into his death Shayne had found it in a shoe box in a moldy storage area, and ever since she hadn't taken the necklace off since in a way it had made her feel as if her brother was still with her. His death however was now something in which Shayne wondered if it had been the suicide that they said or had he broken some Kindred law and faced his Final Death. Honestly she didn't know but in that instance for a brief fleeting moment Shayne almost wanted her old life back, not the one in Hollywood, but the one before that when she had been living in San Francisco. There she had felt safe like nothing could touch her and she didn't know if that was the atmosphere or if it had been because of the company that she kept.

In life much like in death however she had left a trail of dead behind her, with what happened to Jeanette though Shayne felt the weight of guilt resting on her shoulders. Making her wonder if she could have done something more to save Jeanette or if it was all like the fortune teller on the beach had said. Did Jeanette see her fate play out before her eyes each day as she slept, until she dreamed no more? Was she like Heather whose life had been forfeit the moment she had started to keep company with Shayne, and for that matter was the curse that had plagued her as a child and a young adult still following her.

"You're lucky that I have no desire or orders to kill you, if I had wanted to than it would have been most easy to do with you laying there."

"How do you know I'm not armed," Shayne asked lifting an eyebrow though she didn't bother to open her eyes at the voice. "Jeanette's dead."

He sat down taking care to position his over coat so that he wasn't sitting directly on the ground. "I know that and for that my friend I am truly sorry for your loss, but her death wasn't in vain. With Strauss gone it would appear that the Camarilla have scattered, the elders of this city aren't willing to face the same fate as him."

"Well happy fucking day for that," Shayne snapped as she rolled her eyes. "Why are you following me better yet why have you been following me?"

"Your Sire is a friend of mine, and his Sire is well rather frightening in their own right."

"My Sire is dead; he was beheaded by LaCroix for embracing me." Shayne countered as she pushed herself up to her knees and then turned to look over, he had a startling appearance. Long blonde hair hanging in nearly black eyes, and a face that looked as weathered as her own. "I don't need another bed time story I want the truth or else I might just splatter your brains all over that tree and make myself feel better."

"Temper, temper, temper. If you want the truth than you should know I am not the one you need to be asking about this, but what I can tell you is that until I am told otherwise by your Sire or his Mistress. You and I shall be seeing a lot of each other, let's just hope I don't have to send you another email as I would hate for the last one to be a check-mate." Honestly they didn't pay enough to baby-sit her, but he owed a debt and it was either pay it this way or it was pay with his life.

"Yeah well if were stuck together, do you at least have a name, a phone number, an email address."

She was sarcastic, rude, and yet he could see it in her eyes. It was a front to hide the pain she was going through, pain that he had interrupted her way to cope with and for that he was of course sorry to a point. "Josiah and no I don't, if you truly need me I will be there have no fear of that." He gave her a wiry grin as he started to walk away. "Think of this though Childe, the best trick of the devil was to convince mankind that he didn't exist."

Damn riddles, damn people that disappeared before you finished talking, just damn everyone to hell. At that moment and time Shayne could have slaughtered the next person to cross her path and she wouldn't have thought a single thing about that in the least bit. Dropping back onto the dew wet grass and closing her eyes Shayne went back to her thoughts trying to ease her troubled mind and erase the things that were lingering there, the haunting images that played out behind her eyes. Blood splattered walls, the screaming, Blood Brothers, the images were moving so fast that the past and the present were beginning to mesh together. Growling from deep within her throat Shayne finally pushed herself up and looked around wondering how much time had passed, and ignoring the fact that in her haste she had managed to rip and tear some of the newer wounds that were still in the process of healing.

As she continued to walk her attention was drawn to the fact that someone was following her and it was obviously not someone that was use to doing so. As she neared Hollywood Shayne ducked back into an alley expecting them to either walk past her or to walk into her, not surprised when it was the latter of the two she merely folded her arms over her chest before she sighed. Had she not seen Ash that night in the court room she wouldn't have known that he was back, but as far as she was concerned on that night he could have stayed gone.

"You're bleeding."Such a romantic, were all actor's so smooth and sarcastic. "Do all Toreadors state the obvious or is this something new for you? Your point being Ash?" She asked before Shayne leaned back into the wall and let her head fall back against it.

"Why don't you come in the Asp Hole, I haven't gotten around to re-opening it just yet." He offered before he simply reached out and took her arm giving her little to no choice as to if she wanted to go with him or not. "Will get you cleaned up and you can tell me why you're wondering around on your own when you should be out celebrating."

"I don't feel like celebrating with everyone else, I just wanted to be left alone to mourn in private. Although between you and my 'friend' that apparently isn't going to happen tonight," Shayne said with a note of distain in her voice before she let herself be lead through the back door.

**The Asp Hole  
Hollywood,CA**

The Asp Hole was dark, tarps covering the table to protect them from dust but it came alive in a scary sort of way when Ash switched on the lights. Looking around Shayne took in the stage, the bar, the familiar sight of the snake wallpaper. She had spent enough time there before she was embraced that she could tell where little imperfections in things were, the number of tiles in the ceiling, how many lights spun around the stage. The fact that the same song seemed to play over and over again, no matter how many times you asked for it to be changed, leaving you to wonder if that was the only CD the club had.

Setting down on one of the bar stools she looked around before lowering her head, the red streaks running down her cheeks. Sure she had cried before out of frustration and rage but for the first time since she was nineteen years old the tears flowed freely, for those that had died and for herself and the person that she had been at one time. And while the hand that was moving over her back was supposed to be moving in a comforting motion Shayne shrugged it off, trying to avoid any and all contact. She didn't want to be touched, she just wanted to let it out without seeing a sympathetic look and it was why she had wanted to be alone. Finding Ash to be relentless in his attempts Shayne finally gave up trying to stop him, instead she just sat motionless with her head buried in her hands.

"You know eventually the pain of loosing someone fades away but their memory lives on forever so long as you remember them,' Ash cooed before he looked down glancing toward the door before he laughed. "I won't tell you not to be sad and I won't even tell you to let go of it, but what I will tell you is that life is filled with ups and downs, even un-life."

"You think because you're an artist or because your Toreador you can sympathize with my plight, you don't know the half of it Ash and I doubt that you ever will. Yes Isaac embraced you without asking you first if it was what you wanted but at least you had the chance to know your Sire, you didn't get thrown under the bus and have an entire city waiting for you to fail miserably," Shayne could feel herself loosing touch with the fragile reality that she had been holding onto and anger taking over before she could stop it. "What do you think it's like for me, I've been Kindred for how long now and I still don't know half of what I am? I have this blood that courses through my veins and makes me wonder when I'm finally going to explode, I was angry before but now it's like it's the only emotion that I feel comfortable with." She reached for a glass and hurled it toward the wall closest to them and watched as it shattered. "That's how I feel, like I'm leading a damn double life."

He wasn't sure what to think about the outburst and in fact this hadn't been the outcome Ash had been planning for the evening, in fact he had been seeing it of more a romantic beginning. Yet it looked more like he were going to have his balls handed to him in a wine glass than anything else but he couldn't get past the statement she had made about living a double life. It made no sense to the Toreador actor and what made it worse was that he now had a pissed off Brujah roaming around his night club looking as if she might kill the first thing that crossed her path.

"If I don't understand than why don't you explain it too me,' Ash finally said before he shook his head, knowing the chances were that wouldn't be an option. "I want to understand you, but you make it hard because you put up this damn wall around yourself and I can't tell if your self centered enough that you think someone will eventually crash through it or you hope they'll go away." He glared at her as he watched her moving toward the door. "You're nothing more than a spoiled brat that got a lucky break when she got turned into a vampire, you think your something special but sooner or later you'll just burn up and fade away. Then you'll wish you had been more open to the people around you."

If she killed him would they know it was her better yet why was it that he wanted to fight with her now, did he think it would solve anything. Letting her shoulder's slump Shayne threw up her hands before she started for the door, slamming it closed with enough force the exit sign clattered to the floor. She didn't need that, right then and there at that moment and time she didn't need that. What she needed she didn't know but she did know that she felt as if she were a ship drifting at sea with no anchor anymore. Outside she leaned back against the door before she shook her head that was why she wanted to be alone that night more than anything else; she needed to deal in her own way.

**The Apartment of Shayne Emerson  
Hollywood, CA**

Maybe that way how she had ended up back at her apartment, slipping through the empty lobby in silence and making her way to the door. Closing it softly behind herself Shayne looked around realizing that someone had been in and cleaned, the destruction that had been present before was gone but all of her belongings had remained. It was perplexing but something that she would worry about at another time, since for all she knew her new 'friend' was a neat freak and was now anticipating the next move that she would make.

Ash was right in that she put a wall up around herself but he was wrong in thinking she wanted someone to break it down. She built that wall to protect them from her, groaning as she pulled her hair down from its holder Shayne started into the living room when she felt herself collide with a solid form. After a few seconds of being dazed she started to reach for her gun when she felt hands wrapping around her arms pulling her to her feet, and for an instant she wondered if this was how she was going to meet her Final Death. Killed because she was so lost in her own thoughts that she had forgotten and let her guard down, then it hit her a scent that she was use too and the reason why she hadn't noticed it before.

"I don't have to tell you that you look like shit, I think we've already established that,' Nines started before he shook his head, he had waited after Damsel had told him around the apartment he had known that was where she would come back too in the end. He hadn't expected it to be such a mess with no way to walk through the floors without stepping on something but that was another story. "Kid, if you were anyone else I would have put your ass out of it's misery a long time ago."

"Why haven't you, I've served my purpose right. LaCroix is gone the city belongs to the Anarchs, from what I've been taught that should mean I'm pretty well expendable." Shayne regretted saying it the moment that the words came from her lips but she couldn't take them back.

"Is that what you think, that I'm some Nancy pants Prince whose going to kill you because you're not useful to me," Nines asked pushing her back, though it wasn't as hard as he could have. "You know you have a real habit of burning your bridges and while some people might find that cute, it's not one of your more enduring qualities."

Shayne dropped her head down before she took in a deep breath. "I didn't mean that, I'm not mad at you I'm mad at me and to be honest with you I'm just... It's just, I'm pissed damn it." Shayne dropped down into the newly cleaned chair before she pulled her knees up to her chest and then looked up. "Burning bridges is what I do best, once or twice I've met people like you that just won't give up and walk away when I try to get them too."

He sat down on the coffee table, surprised that the flimsy wood could actually hold his weight before he spoke. For the first time stepping out of the role of a leader, a mentor, or a brotherly figure, in fact Nines thought it might have been the first time he was talking to her as himself. It was a different feeling and one that he hadn't faced since his own sire had died at the hands of a Prince, and then the former Anarch Leader had died in battle with the Kuei-Jin.

"Like Cash, he called while I was throwing out year old pizza boxes and trying to sort through the rubbish you had lying around. I answered the phone, because honestly I figured you would be smart enough to call and make sure no one was here first," Nines offered as he leaned forward putting his hands on her knees, looking up he waited to see the expression in her eyes change from one of recognition to one of anger. "He seemed pretty willing to talk, wanted to know if I was your boyfriend, what had happened to you, and got a little quiet when I told him I was Nines Rodriguez."

Shayne laughed letting herself relax a little at the thought of the look on Cash's face when Nines told him that much less the look on his face when a male answered the phone, and the fact there was probably someone getting hell for no reason at that moment. "Hmm I bet he was thrilled about that, I think he assumed that there is still something between us even though it's been over for a long time."

"So you had no idea that you were dating the Gangrel Primogen of San Francisco or that Julian Luna was the biggest asshole Ventrue Prince there is?" Nines asked. "He got chatty after I told him who I was, either he was trying to impress me or frighten me and let's face it Kid I don't scare that easily or you would have already scared the hell out of me."

"Well if I had known that then being turned wouldn't have been such a surprise to me now would it have, I mean I knew they were different but I just thought it was because Luna was a mobster and Cash was his bodyguard,' she snorted. "Guess when I called him Julian Luna's lap dog I wasn't far off huh," she mused before she shook her head slightly and then grinned before rising from the chair.

"What are you doing, I don't see you smile enough not to be suspicious."

Her next course of actions would either change everything between them or it would leave them at a bigger stand still than they were already at, but for that moment and time she wanted to let go and she wanted to let someone get close to her. Reaching down and grabbing his hand she smiled again before shrugging her shoulders.

"Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me about living there."

"Tomorrow, I promise tomorrow I will tell you everything you want to know." Shayne replied speaking in a softer voice than what she would have normally used. "For now though I want to show you something."


	10. Chapter Eight: Deception

The ringing of the phone had awoken Shayne from the first peaceful night's sleep she'd had in some time and for a moment she had forgotten the events that had taken place last night. Stretching across the double bed she grabbed her cell phone opening it before holding it up to her ear, on the pillow was a note scribbled out in a messy script and Shayne felt herself sigh.

"Hello.""Hello, you turn your phone off last night and disappear and hello is all you have to say to me," Damsel fumed, she was in rare form and had according to both Skelter and Nines been on her soap box since the first rays of moonlight had began to blanket the city in it's eerie glow. "Where the hell are you?"

"Well Mother," she quipped as Shayne examined the note more carefully and then smiled to herself. "If you must know I was sleeping it off, you know wild night of playing paintball with my jerk off friends," she mused thinking back to her first conversation with the feisty red head. "What's the problem or are you planning on tying someone else's ass hairs to their eyelashes and bowling them into a car compactor?"

Hearing the growling on the other end of the line Shayne, snickered before Damsel started speaking again. "Damn it Cammy would you just drag your ass out of bed and get over here, there's some old guy sniffing around for you." "Old guy, funny accent," she asked, brushing her fingers through her hair as she pulled the sheet around herself. "Yeah, he said he knows you and he needs to speak with you, it's a matter of the up most importance to him," explained Damsel. "According to him you saved his life Cammy and then he started babbling to me about llama stew or something like that." Damsel paused before she gave a laugh of her own. "You sure know how to attract the wacko's don't you."

Groaning as she slid off the bed, holding the phone between her shoulder and her ear Shayne laughed, digging through the array of clothing that still remained in the closest most of which Nines had apparently hung up the night before. "You could say that, his name is Ingvar Johansen and he's the guy that found the Ankaran Sarcophagus." Why he was looking for her Shayne didn't know, there business was finished and she had told him not to look for her after their boat ride and the whole adventure of the Society of Leopold.

"Oh great we get rid of the rolls of coffins and it's still haunting us.""Yeah, yeah, yeah I'll be there in a little while I need to stop and pick something up." Shayne said as she snapped the phone closed and let out a yawn. She had to question what Johansen wanted but more than that she had to wonder who had sent him what, after all the old man had admitted that he hadn't just happened upon the Last RoundDowntown LA

As the door opened and then closed, Damsel lifted her head before she adjusted her hat lifting an eyebrow. "Well Cammy that's a surprising look for you," she said and then grinned. "If I didn't know better I would think you were trying to impress a certain someone." "If I didn't know better I would think that you were actually trying to be nice," she countered before Shayne removed her jacket and tossed it onto one of the tables. "I decided after my pity party for myself last night that I was tired of not being myself and surprisingly this is me."

It wasn't as if she looked that different, she was simply wearing a clean pair of jeans, a button down shirt that didn't have bullet holes in it, and she had taken the time to straighten her hair instead of leaving it in one big fluffy mess. After last night Shayne had realized that somewhere along the way she had lost herself, for whatever reason she had lost herself and she had been willing to let go. It had happened in the past but she had resolved that she wasn't the same person and therefore she wasn't going to let the demons of a human life drag her down into the darkest recesses of her mind. In other words she had somehow managed to come to terms with the events that had taken place, and while she didn't understand them Shayne could at least except that they wouldn't change but she could change herself.

"Come on let's go see what Johansen is up too," she said looking over at Damsel and casting a Cheshire cat grin at her. "What don't look so surprised Red if I have to go listen to another one of his boring speeches your coming with me.""I want you both to remember to keep your noses clean," Nines called from the top floor his arms folded over his chest as he looked down at them. "No assault unless it's warranted, no explosions, and absolutely no and I mean no trouble out of the two of you."

"Right," the voices came in unison as the door closed but it didn't leave Nines or Skelter with that warm pleasant feeling.

He was barking like an over protective father and while on the one hand it was somewhat comforting, on the other hand it really just made Shayne want to smack him. After all she wasn't a child and she detested being treated like one, it was a pet peeve but it was nice to see that last night hadn't changed anything. "Right Dad, and while were out will make sure that we put gas in the car and won't pick up hitch hikers."

"Out now Kid and remember what I told you last night about enduring qualities," Nines reminded though the last of his words were met with the slamming of a door before he had even finished. "I don't know about letting them go out on their own."

**The Streets  
Downtown LA**

As they had walked the more the previous night had plagued her mind, before she had gone back to her apartment, what Josiah had said about knowing her sire. Was it possible that she had been sired by someone else and the Kindred whose head had rolled past her at the Nocturne Theater was a pawn in someone else's game? If that were the case than why would they send a Lasombra to watch over her, unless of course they were a member of the Sabbat? Josiah's un-invited interruption to her pity party last night had now left her with more questions than it had answers and that was something that Shayne didn't like in the least bit. Still there was something about the smooth talking Lasombra that she didn't like, he was trying to distract her and damned if it wasn't working.

"Damsel did you know my Sire?" Shayne finally asked, firing the question at her companion out of no where.

Somehow Damsel had seen this coming after all Shayne hadn't had time in the recent months to question her own existence and now that things had settled down to a breathable pace she did. "Yeah I know him for the lousy no good rat that he was, Marcus was an ass Shayne, a huge ass and embracing you. Well embracing you just went to prove how much of an ass that he really was too," she explained.

"What do you mean why did embracing me make him even more of an ass?" She had heard the rumors that her Sire had been working all sides of the rubrics cube so to speak and Shayne had no doubt of that after LaCroix's admission of 'Like Sire like childe.' "Damsel what are you talking about?"

"He was working for everyone from the Anarchs to the Sabbat but Cammy that wasn't the ultimate betrayal alright. He knew Nines had marked you, I don't know if he planned on approaching you with being a ghoul or if he just planned on embracing you but whatever it was Marcus had known about it." She furrowed her brow and wrenched her lips together tightly. "He embraced you out of spite but I don't think he realized that Nines was going to stand up and face down LaCroix, Marcus planned on you dying that night."

Silence drifted between the pair as Shayne thought about this, what Jeanette had told her about the Knight suddenly made a lot more sense when she looked at it in the right context. In his own way Nines had been trying to tell her that over and over again, each time he had saved her ass from the first night to last night. Time and time again he had been there, that night in Griffith Park he had tried to get them to safety and instead he had gotten packed off by a werewolf, though to this day Shayne was still trying to figure out how he had managed the nifty trick of getting its head off.

"I think we have a problem then Damsel." Shayne replied softly, looking over at the older Brujah with the look of a child that had been sent to bed without any supper after their hand had been caught in the cookie jar. She launched full throttle into the story about the Lasombra, about the Ocean house, the mysterious emails, and then the mysterious cabbie that had driven her to the Luckee Star that night. "He said his name was Josiah and that he knew my Sire, but that can't be possible."

"Unless someone double crossed Marcus, embraced you, and then set him up to take the fall," she commented before Damsel glanced over, it was the first time she could recall Shayne looking confused and anything but emotionless. "I think before we go talk to this Johansen guy we need to go talk to Nines about this, this Josiah could be more dangerous than you realize." Shayne furrowed her own brow biting down on her lower lip as she did so before she cast a glance in Damsel's direction, stopping just in front of Confessions.

"What if this is just supposed to be some sort of distraction by the Sabbat but then again what could they be after that would require that much distraction," it made no sense to her what so ever but then again the newest information about her embrace was still slowly sinking in for her to process.

**The Last Round  
Downtown LA  
**  
"What do you mean he left?" Damsel roared looking back at the fledgling Anarch that was standing before her. She was seething about the lack of information that had been given and more so about the younger Kindred's inability to form a full sentence. "Did he say why he left?"

"He… He said she called him," the boy offered pointing toward Shayne who seemed to be paying no attention until that moment. "She called and he left and Skelter went with him."

"She couldn't have called, she was with me and he knew that." Shayne thought about it for a few moments, her arms folding over her chest as she bit down on her lower lip.

"He did know that but if someone called pretending to be me chances are he might have gone but he knew we were going to the Empire Arms." She began before she stopped reaching out and grabbing her coat from the back of the nearby chair. "I think we need to go check out the Empire Arms."

"Can you handle it on your own Cammy?" Damsel asked knowing full and well that Shayne could she just wanted to hear it for herself. "That way someone is here to mind the tiny tots."

"Yeah. Yeah I can handle it on my own, I'll be back when I can and hopefully I'll be back with Nines and Skelter." Hopefully this was another instance where Nines had gone off to think and Skelter had simply gone with him to keep him company. "I'll find him don't worry then will get to the bottom of this problem with my little friend."

**Empire Arms Hotel  
Downtown LA**

"I need to know what room Ingvar Johansen is in." It was a demand not a question; Shayne didn't have time to worry about being polite. More and more she felt that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach which normally meant that something horrible was going to happen. "I said I need to know what room Ingvar Johansen is in."

The man behind the desk didn't bother looking up with before he spouted off a room number and then instructed Shayne in the direction of the elevators, telling her to take care to wipe her boots. Her first thought was that she could wipe them on his head and be done with it but instead she said nothing and went to the elevator waiting to hear the familiar dinging to announce its arrival. That was when she caught it, that faint whiff in the air and she was sure that Nines had been there or was there and so had Skelter. As the doors opened Shayne stepped inside and waited for them to close before she took the safety off her gun and made sure that while the occult blade was hidden it was still within reach.

Something … Something seemed off about this entire thing, it was too easy and at the same time the phone call. Shayne had to wonder if this didn't go back to her little friend, Josiah, was the Lasombra behind this. Hearing the door open and then close behind her she prepared for the worse that way just incase this wasn't the disaster she thought it was going to be she'd feel that much better about things. Making sure to keep on the carpet so that the heels of her boots couldn't be heard hitting against the floor and drawing attention to herself, rounding a corner Shayne lifted her head and looked catching the muted outline of a shadow from just behind one of the lights.

It turned out to be nothing more than a janitor out to take a smoke, moving past him Shayne ran her fingers through her hair as she neared Johansen's door looking around to make sure there were no sudden surprises. Gary had taught her to look for the subtle signs that someone was present but using obfuscate and she didn't see any of the tale-tell signs thus far. Opening the door Shayne went into the room expecting something to jump out and grab her when nothing did she started to wonder if she was letting paranoia get the better of her. Still there was no Johansen in the room but it was apparent that he had been there recently, a paper was laying out on the coffee table, the television was turned to the news, and the bathroom door was cracked open. It was then that it hit her, the thick scent of blood. Heavy, metallic, and oozing from somewhere. The logical place was the bathroom of course but Shayne was trying her hardest to prolong the opening of the door.

After a few moments she pushed the door open and switched on the light switch before taking a step back, the retching sound coming from the back of her throat before she could stop it. Laying there in the tub was Johansen, a pool of blood surrounding him having leaked from the gash across his neck. On the wall a message was sprawled and Shayne was certain it was directed to her.

_'Return to the Way of Kings.'_

Backing up she nudged the air shaft and watched as the door fell open, assured no one else was in the room other than the lifeless professor and herself Shayne was surprised to hear the sounds of subtle ticking. In Shayne's world ticking was bad since it normally meant that you had to flee as quickly as possible or you would end up in a fiery mess, if you were lucky you had three minutes to take a leisurely stroll but she didn't think this was going to be one of those times. Grunting as she pushed the window up Shayne slipped out onto the ledge before she jumped landing just to the side of the dumpster outside of the hotel before the upper level of the building lit up and the ground shook beneath her feet.

As she rounded the corner and stepped back out onto the street it seems as if the damaged had been contained to Johansen's room which was a good thing, it had gotten rid of the evidence and it mean no one would be lurking around King's Way when she got there.

Stopping at the payphone she pulled it off and dialed, listening to the purring of the ringtone. "I'm heading to King's Way to pay a visit to our little Sabbat friends, Johansen is dead and they apparently killed him for whatever information he had or because he was in the way. Either way I'll let you know when I know more, and Damsel you didn't get this call, let them think I died in that explosion."

With that Shayne hung up the phone before giving Damsel a chance to say anything more, she needed to make a stop off to see Fat Larry before going into town and check out his secret stash of items. From there she would figure out a plan that didn't involve getting them all killed. The walk to the truck would give her time to think of a plan and then a plan B that before she got into Hollywood.


	11. Chapter Nine: The Storm Begins

_Heavy violence to following the next few chapters. … If you aren't into that sort of thing look away now. Also a bit longer than other Chapters but I really didn't want to break it up, I apologize for that now._

~*~

'_And though I am prepared to face my destiny, you will not find me easy prey._' - **Unknown Author**

The streets of Hollywood were silent almost too silent for Shayne's liking but by that time word of Nines and Skelter's disappearance had already been caught up in the Kindred rumor mill, and news of the tragic explosion at the Empire Arms had drifted through the grapevine as well. It was all a matter at this point of having the element of surprise on your side which was why she had crept silently through the streets and into the Asian Theater, dropping down to her knees in a position much like she were praying. From above heavy footsteps could be heard before a thundering vibration rocked the room and the gargoyle which she had nicknamed Flint for having a lack of better things to call him stood prepared to protect his safe haven.

"Kindred invader you have no place here." The voice growled in the darkness unable to see just whom had entered his domain. "Show yourself and then be gone."

"I need your help Flint."

"It is you," the voice had dropped down to a warmer tone though the hatred was still there, of course Flint couldn't say that he had hatred for the Kindred before him after all she had offered him a life out of servitude and Isaac Abrams had kept his word. "What is it that you need so desperately that you would risk loosing your life to enter here."

"Strauss is dead, he left me no choice but to kill him." Words to sooth the savage beast so to speak as Shayne was certain that it would bring a smile to the stone face before her own. "The Sabbat have captured the Anarch Leader as well as another of the Anarch Agents, they've killed an innocent human, and now they want to wage war. I am not asking you to walk in the line of fire for me but I am asking that at sun down tomorrow you destroy King's Way so that the Sabbat won't have a strong hold in the city any longer."

It was a request that seemed so small and yet a task that would require more strength than what Shayne herself had, not to mention if she died attempting a rescue it was doubtful that the Sabbat would survive an attack by Flint. It was of course her plan B in the whole matter but before she made the drive into the Hills to the house of horror she wanted to assure that it was in place, her main focus rather than her won survival was to get both Nines and Skelter out of the house before anything happened to them. As in the back of her mind Shayne continued to recall the words of the cab driver the night that the Blood Hunt had been called on her, that there was one who could revitalize the Anarch Movement and restore the Free States and then he had taken her to see Nines at the Luckee Star Hotel. That seemed like an eternity ago when really it had only been a few months since that conversation but the words had been burned into her brain.

"You seem ready to seek out death for this Leader yet you know in your heart just as I see it in your eyes you could lead them to greatness if it came down to it," Flint said kneeling down so that he was more level with the much smaller Kindred before him. "Great things come from the smallest of places and it is your heart that has made you a great warrior but it is your head that has kept you alive for so long, do not seek the warm embrace of a Final Death or your opponent might just give it too you."

No she couldn't lead the Anarchs through darkness, her own hesitation and doubts in herself made sure of that as well as her own impulsive nature to simply rush head strong into things. It was that way that she had always been rushing into things before she thought about them and then having to think of a way to keep her head above water, they all thought she had a plan but most of the time when it came down to the actual event Shayne winged it and made sure to have something else in place to spare those around her.

Rising to her feet she looked up before casting a weary smile in the gargoyles direction as she gave a shrug of her shoulders. "I do not seek death for I am already dead, I do not long for death as I am finally where I belong, nor do I long for a release from the pain of living with this curse. Oddly enough I enjoy it but what I long for is the answers that I do not have and the truth that I may never find," Shayne replied as she looked around the remains of the Asian Theater. "Sun down tomorrow, do I have your word that King's Way will be no more regardless of if you have heard from me or not?"

"You have my word Kindred just as I had your's that I would no longer be in servitude to Maxamillion Strauss, you filled your end of our bargain and now I am in debt to you." Flint answered as he watched her, in his lifetime and the time since he had been in service to the Tremere Regent never had he seen someone that could wear the weight of the world on their shoulders such as she did but at the same time while she seemed to think that the Anarch Leader would bring about some sort of salvation, he himself thought it would be the Kindred before him. "Go now and worry not about what the next night will hold, live your un-life for the moment as you might not have another."

**King's Way  
The Hollywood Hills**

Something was dripping off in the distance and while he couldn't tell exactly what it was Nines was certain that it wasn't water dripping, to his left he could hear Skelter beginning to move around rattling the metal bars of the their small prisons. It would do no good as Nines himself had already tried to escape once and gotten nothing more than laughter coming from their guards. With no clock he couldn't be sure how long they had been there but he was already sure that someone was out looking for them, as by now damsel and Shayne had returned to find that they were missing and it was only a matter of time before the cavalry arrived. It was then that a subtle movement on his left caught his attention and made Nines jerk his head to the side, the hazy feeling in his head lifting and his eyes adjusting to their current location he snarled at the form he saw before himself.

"Well if it isn't the Prince of Peace," he hissed before snickering. "Look at that Skelter we traded in one fat cat only to be held captive with another one," he taunted although the question was raised as to why the San Francisco Prince was so far from his own territory. "Why are you here Luna?"

"I can explain that," a suave voice broke through the room and echoed off the walls as Josiah stepped into the light. "A week ago while a few of our Sabbat Agents were passing through Manzanita they happened upon the Prince visiting the grave of his wife, they took the opportunity and captured him bringing him back to our safe haven." the Lasombra swept through the room in an elegant motion before he rattled the cage that held his prize captive. "You Rodriguez are the real prize however."

"Why is that, cause if your looking for a date I'm not interested?"

Josiah gave a cold grin as he paced back and forth before the cage and then looked down. "Because with you here the Anarchs are distracted and your young agent has been riddled with the question of whom her Sire really is, I've seen to that." he gave another grin as he clasped his hands behind his back and looked around them. "Even the brightest of people have been swayed by false prophets."

"Josiah, I just got word from out sources downtown and the Fledgling didn't make it out of the Empire Arms," another voice called and a curse could be heard by the Lasombra.

"You were told to frighten her, kill Johansen but leave the girl alive." He snarled before muttering something under his breath. "Well Rodriguez there goes your chances for survival and rescue, as the person that had the answer to your location is no more."

It was like a knife ripping through his gut as he felt the crushing weight falling around his shoulders, beside him even Skelter had fallen into a silent period of grieving while their capture simply left the room. To Nines it didn't seem possible that she couldn't have escaped the explosion, if anything that was the one thing Shayne knew better than anything else was explosives. How was it that she could have let her guard down long enough to fall pray to something like this, he refused to believe what he had been told but at the same time had he been able to escape from his metal prison he would have wiped the sneer right off of the cheeky Lasombra's face. Letting out a deep sigh he leaned back against the cool metal and closed his eyes before finally opening them and looking over at Skelter.

"I don't believe it." Nines muttered. "We need a way out of here."

Skelter didn't believe it either, even with all of his protest and his dislike for the fledgling when she had first darkened the door of The Last Round he now saw her as being one of them and if she was truly dead than her death would be one that was felt everywhere that the Anarch flag had been and was raised already. "What are you thinking?"

"I am sure that the Camarilla are already looking for me," Julian offered his dark eyes scanning the faces across from him. "It is only a matter of time before they discover just where it is that I've been taken to." Opening his mouth to add something else to that statement the sound of gunshots erupted from somewhere above them followed by a stream of curse words and maniacal laughter.. "What was that?"

**King's Way - Third Floor**

"You're dead!"

"No way really, I didn't know that." She sneered as she looked on, surrounded by at least four members of the Sabbat and two ghouls Shayne was weighing her odds. Deciding that she had been rushed by far more at the Hallowbrook Hotel she grinned holding up her hands and appearing to be unarmed. "Now would you really shoot at someone that was unarmed?"

Unarmed, that was hardly the case but they didn't need to know that the moment someone made a close enough move she could easily swing, and if spinning fast enough to it would be like a deadly fan blade. She had been surprised to find the items in Fat Larry's truck but she had known a good thing when she had seen it. Her plan was interrupted however by the sound of someone firing from behind her, one of the bullets shattering her shoulder before passing through and lodging into the nearby wall.

"What the hell, shit learn to shoot straight," Shayne hissed spinning around long enough to blink before she gave an inward groan. "Damn Fluffy I know your pissed I never called you back but don't you think shooting me is a little extreme," she asked listening to what one Sabbat thought was silent footsteps approaching behind her. "Did I tell you boys to move yet."

Jerking her arms, and ignoring the searing pain she felt Shayne smirked as the blades extended in a glint of silver with the light splashing off of it before she swung. "Now whose next?"

Cash had been tracking the Sabbat since Julian's disappearance and finally he had found them at King's Way but he hadn't expected to find Shayne standing there and shooting her had been an honest mistake; well an honest mistake that made him feel slightly better none the less. Now he questioned why she was there but he felt it might have been the wrong time to ask her that question, given that they were surrounded by armed Sabbat guards and something that continued to roll around in the darkness. When it finally made it's ghastly appearance Cash took a step back not sure what to make of the hideous looking creature.

"Watch out for the Headrunners," Shayne called as she dodged a set of claws that came painfully close to piercing her abdomen. "Their wicked fast and they have a taste for blood," she added before crashing through the glass door behind her, the railing the only thing keeping her from plummeting to the cement below. "Alright you bastards that's it I'm tired of playing nice with you."

She'd been playing nice Cash looked over at that remark in time to get caught with a fist to his jaw and for a few moments the room started to spin around., catching himself he fired a shot, the last before his gun jammed hitting one Sabbat in the head causing him to bust into a dazzling array of flames and ashes.

"Any idea I'm out of weapons?"

"You're a Gangrel, you have claws I would suggest that you start using them," Shayne called as she rammed the full force of her body into a much larger vampire and sent him back out the same door she had just crashed through. "I just got this coat thank you very much you ass, knock me through a window." He rose and swung at her which only made her chuckle, at times it paid to be shorter. As the vampire tried to regain his balance she took the moment to strike, sending one blade into his gut and the ripping across his neck.

Shrugging her jacket off and tossing it down Shayne adjusted the braces that held the blades against her arms before she lifted her head, motioning for one of the Sabbat to rush her. Flint might have been right about not welcoming a Final Death but he had said nothing about welcoming an attack which would have worked much better had she not felt a set of sharp tiny teeth digging into the flesh of her calf. A Headrunner latched on tightly and attempting to gnaw it's way through the flesh and bone.

"I am not a snack, despite people calling me cupcake" she grunted kicking as hard as she could and sending the little creature toward her opponent. "Hey Fluffy why the hell did you only bring one gun?"

"Poor planning on my part, guess you were right about me not being a Boy Scout huh," Cash called slightly amused by the look on the vampires across from him face when they realized that he in fact had claws of his own and knew how to use them. "You alright over there," he asked before thinking about it, a little surprised to see his former girlfriend latched on to the neck of a ghoul and draining him dry. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing Fluffy but right now I don't have time to play catch up with the past. Thanks to your shooting me in the fucking shoulder and the use of a gun I think their well aware of the fact their strong hold has been raided." Shayne countered grabbing her jacket from the ground as she looked back over her shoulder. "Come on we have two more levels to this house and whatever is in the basement to contend with."

**King's Way - Basement**

"Sounds as if it's getting closer." Julian offered not sure who or what had caused the Sabbat guards to flee the room or what was causing the commotion upstairs.

Exchanging a look with Nines, Skelter nodded his head as he folded his arms over his chest. "I'm just hoping she remembers to check the basement and doesn't just blow the building up," he explained looking toward the stairs. "I banned the use of explosives remember," Nines said as she looked over, his arms folded over his chest and shook his head. "I could leave you down here to die Luna just like you left my wife and child to die but unlike you I've managed to still hold on to a shred of my humanity." He thought about it for a few moments. "Granted Kid might not be so willing to save your ass especially now that she knows what really happened to her brother."

"Her brother would be?"

**King's Way - First Floor**

The second floor had been empty of Sabbat which had told Shayne they were all on the first floor just waiting to strike, but it had given them both time to regroup, heal what could be healed, and her to give Cash another gun with the understanding she wanted the Anaconda back. Now as she stepped off the stairs and onto the hard wood flooring she was a little surprised at what she saw, an army of Sabbat standing guard just before the basement door looking much like the Romans before they prepared to invade. Only this time around they were trying to keep something out..

"Let's hope Nines was right about my hitting like a Mack truck or else we aren't going to get out of this to tell people," she mused looking toward Cash for a few moments before she caught a familiar scent. "Oh Caine not this again, get ready for complete and utter darkness Cash, don't move because it won't do you any good. Once it lifts you take out the Sabbat and I'll take care of the Lasombra."

As the darkness blanketed the room like thick tendrils of black smoke Shayne gave a grunt though it went unheard by anyone else as she felt herself being pulled forward and then shoved in the direction of the stairs. However at this point and time she wasn't certain if Josiah was there to help her or he was secretly trying to kill her but if she had to make an educated guess off the top of her head he was trying to kill her. The farther they moved away from the front door the thicker and more suffocating the darkness seemed to get before finally a hand was put in the center of her back and Shayne was shoved rolled down the stairs and landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

**King's Way - Basement**

Skelter had been the first to notice the form at the bottom of the stairs when the lights came back on but she wasn't moving and she appeared to be stunned or unconscious. Behind her came the well dressed Lasombra walking slowly until he reached the bottom step and sent a foot into Shayne's stomach which was enough to send her up into the air before gravity pulled her back down to the floor below.

Landing with a thud on the ground Shayne groaned as she struggled to pull herself to her feet before leaning back against the wall before looking up. "You played your hand when you told me that you knew my Sire because you thought it would distract me," she started and then laughed. "Then when Nines and Skelter disappeared I remembered what you had said about the devil's and convincing people that he didn't exist."

"I was worried you would be to smart for your own good but you looked so pitiful that night wallowing in your self pity and loathing for yourself, against my better judgment I decided to make you feel better. Then I watched your disgraceful liaison with the Anarch Leader and I realized the best way to get under your skin," replied Josiah. "Doesn't it make you wonder about your Sire though am I telling you the truth or am I lying to you."

"False prophets my friend, false prophets," Shayne said before she shook her head reaching back behind herself and removing the McLusky before she started to fire emptying the clip into Josiah as she did so. "Whether you tell the truth or not doesn't matter to me in the end it is the blood of Caine that guides us all not the sins of our Sire's."

"You bitch." Josiah wailed as he looked down sticking his finger through the hole in his shirt. "That was silk."

"It was cheap and tacky, much like you," countered Shayne as she shoved another clip into the gun and adjusting the worn brown leather bag that hung over her shoulder. "Why don't you stop trying to woo me with pretty words and let's just get down to it, but when you go to whatever hell it is our kind go to tell Andrei that I said hi. Unlike you he was a Sabbat that at least had manners and unlike you killing him almost pained me the first time around." She had always felt she could have learned more from the Tzmisce had he been willing to talk more before hand but instead rather than answering her questions he simply prepared to strike.

Watching in silence Nines had his doubts about her ability to handle this, she looked like she had been run over by a truck and it had backed up to run over her again. Then again this was the same woman that had gotten pissed off and stormed the Kuei-Jin temple and Venture Tower in the same night and walked away from it with her head intact and not a flaming pile of ashes and bones. However if he called upon the Abyss Nines doubted Shayne would be able to save her ass from the fire, which was when he had noticed that she had traded in her gun for a flame thrower and that sent an chill down his spine.

"Now would be a good time to remind her that were still here before the sister fries us," Skelter muttered before he looked over noticing something glinting on the ground as it landed softly against his cage. "Would you look at that," he said as he picked up the gun seeing a second skid to a stop before him. "Looks like the we might have a fighting chance."

"Now why don't you just stand still child and let me kill you," Josiah said, "or you could join me in the Sabbat bring back glory to your Sire's name and take away the shame of soiling his name when he left our ranks."

"Would you just die already," she snarled landing a heavy blow to Josiah's face as she swung her leg around, the heel of her boot catching the skin and ripping it.

He launched back at her the blade of his knife catching the side of her neck and tearing the skin, though it hadn't been deep enough as he had misjudge the angle in which he needed to swing at someone of her height. The inhuman scream that filled the basement was music to his ears however until he realized that he could no longer find his target, she wasn't in front of him nor was she behind him nor was she on either side. She had disappeared from sight even though he knew that she hadn't fled. In reality Shayne hadn't disappeared from sight but she had found a good place to use for a counter attack, although how she had managed to climb the wall and get up there was beyond her it was the first time she had ever scaled a wall without a ledge. Startled but realizing she had an advantage Shayne dropped down landing on the Lasombra's back before she dug her fingers into his eyes, her nails digging and scraping into his flesh before she pulled them back ignoring the thin coating of blood that remained. Now momentarily blinded and enraged Josiah prepared to strike though not at Shayne herself, she had already proven she was to hard to catch. Turning the thick tendrils of black smoke curling around in the air as they dances closer to the make shift prisons, Shayne watched until she realized in the direction they were headed. Dropping down to the ground in front of them she gave a gasp as they coiled around her tightly making it difficult to speak above more than a whisper , the room had turned into a disco of white spots that played before her eyes and the only thing that she could think to do was with the last bit of strength that she had let aim the flamethrower at the Lasombra and put her finger on the trigger. As the room continued to spin for a few more moments Shayne finally choked, the thin thread that had been wrapped around her throat releasing.

"Burn baby burn, come on you bastard die." He fell to the ground in a heap and Shayne let her finger off the trigger figuring him to be stunned or dying, before she turned back to look at Nines and digging the lock picks from her pocket. "Miss me."

"Only a lot Kid," Nines replied as she pulled the door open and then moved out of the way. "How'd you know?"

The lock snapped open followed by the one snapping open on Skelter's prison before Shayne turned and took the short trek to look down at Julian Luna, hesitation filled her as she debated before finally listening to the tumbler turning over in the lock and it springing open. It was then it hit her, a heavy burning pain like nothing the young Kindred had felt before and in her final moment before the sweet comfort of unconsciousness took over Shayne realized her mistake in thinking Josiah wouldn't be able to get up. After all it had taken her how long to kill the Sheriff with that thing. Snapping back into reality as another blow was landed this time hitting her in the center of the chest, Shayne struggled to pull herself to her feet only to feel a foot lodging in her gut and flipping her over in the air. The scent of burning flesh was nauseating and the fact that she knew it was her own only made it worse, blinding her with a white hot pain that left the room blurry and spinning around before her eyes.

"Head's up Kiddo, look alive." Never in her un-life had she been so glad to hear the sound of Jack's voice even if it did take her a second or so before she gave a grin to Josiah and then dropped down onto the ground. Listening to a barrage of shots being fired before he simply disappeared into a flicker of flames. "Sun's coming up soon there's no way we can make it back into the city before hand." Jack explained.

Standing through she was swaying back and forth Shayne looked over before she opened her mouth, and at first they thought she was going to screaming in pain. "Gary." it had dawned on her at some point that the double doors behind them lead into the sewers which lead into the Warrens, and that would take them under Hollywood. A hand caught her as she fell back into the wall and Shayne looked but saw nothing the haze before her eyes was only getting worse.

"I got you Kid," Nines had been trying to think of an escape route when the double doors were pushed open and a Nosferatu stepped into the basement wearing a wiry grin and looking around at them as if they were at a carnival. "Alright Kid come on, Shayne you have to stay with me those tunnels are too small for me to pack you." He would have but Nines doubted they would both fit into the smaller tunnels that lead into the different areas below Hollywood if he were packing her.

"Jack."

"Back off Gangrel Dog," Jack snarled before he looked down nudging Shayne with his foot before he shook his head. "She's out but it's probably better that way," he turned and looked toward the stairs.

"Mercurio hurry it up will you were burning moonlight."

"I can handle it," Cash started only to be cut off by the well dressed ghoul that walked into the room, or at least he had been well dressed at one time now his suit was covered in blood and soot. "Who is he."

Jack looked down at the ground nudging the lifeless form on the ground and watching as she opened her eyes, he cracked a smile at her before looking back toward the Nosferatu. "Looks like were taking the sewer and he belongs to her, deal with that and remember this isn't San Francisco you don't hold domain here." Jack motioned grabbing the brown bag from the ground and tossing it over his shoulder before making sure Mercurio had managed to get Shayne without killing her. "Alright lets move it out."

"Jack will lead the way, Skelter and I will stay in the back." Nines ordered clearing his throat as he nodded toward Skelter. "Mercurio will be in front of us, now lets go."


	12. Chapter Ten: History Repeats it's Self

**The Warren's - Level One**

As the group slowly made their way through the passage way that would lead down into the sewer, Nines couldn't help but let his mind wonder. What were they going to do, the only one of them that knew how to navigate things appeared to be three steps from Final Death and one step away from slipping into topor and neither of those were options that he liked nor were they options that he thought with the current state that Los Angeles was in they could deal with. There was also the matter that while his face didn't show it he felt as if this was all his fault. Had he not been watching her so closely starting out she wouldn't have been embraced, had he not sent her in she wouldn't have been involved in the final battle with LaCroix, and if she hadn't been coming to find him she wouldn't be in her current state either. Granted in the back of his mind he could hear Shayne telling him that it wasn't his fault and had she not wanted to do it than she wouldn't have done it. Muttering something under his breath which only got a perked eyebrow from Skelter, Nines stopped moving as he looked over at Mercurio. Finding a pair of blue eyes looking back at him before closing and then opening once more. He had to give the kid this much she was durable but how durable was the real question, clearing his throat which brought an automatic halt to the group as Jack had turned to see what was going on Nines shook his head.

"You know Kiddo one of these days were going to be scrapping you up off the highway or something," Jack started before he nodded his head, still not sure why Mercurio hadn't put her down on the ground. "Let her get her land legs back or she's going to start expecting people to pack her around like that," Jack offered half joking with the statement and half worried that it might be true.

In the time that he had gotten to know Shayne he had realized that when she wanted to be she could be childish, immature, head strong, stubborn as an ox, and yet at the same time everything she had done she had done to benefit those around her. None of it had been for herself, she had always been working for someone or something else and in the end Jack wasn't sure she still wasn't working for someone else. Like at that moment and time as she had finally been lowered to the ground she was exchanging a half worried look with Nines while at the same time from time to time she would glance back at Jack himself as if she was expecting him to say or do something amazing. Then again being shot and stabbed where one thing, but flames where another as they could weaken even the strongest of Kindred's resistance and send then to the floor like a blubbering baby. More than likely she was trying to get her bearings straight and the rattling coming from the San Francisco Fleabag wasn't going to make that any easier. Watching as Shayne took a few unsteady steps before she reached out and wrapped her fingers around the brick of the nearby wall, she finally seemed to be somewhat more coherent than what she had been a few moments before.

"You stupid mother fucking bag of fur, what the hell where you thinking up there? Oh I'm going to break into a strong hold where I think someone is being held and start shooting, and while I'm at it because I think I'm fantastic I'm only going to bring one gun along with me," Shayne fumed as she folded her arms under her breast and glared at Cash, silence drifting between them for a few moments until she reared back and let him have it again. "Then you have the nerve, the complete and utter nerve to ask me what I'm doing there, mind you this comes after you've shot me, you forget that you have claws, oh and most importantly I love the fact that I'm being attacked by a flaming vampire and you stand at the top of the stairs and stare at me as if you think you might get an ouchie." She said, her tone riddled in sarcasm and dripping with distain as she spoke. "Fucking worthless Cammy Do Boy."

It was easy to tell where this was going and it was even faster to see that Shayne was headed into tantrum mode or at least that was what Jack and Nines had privately dubbed the mood swings that the temperamental Brujah could get into on occasion. No they weren't the tantrums that children threw where doors would be slammed and harsh words would be spoken, Shayne's tended to end in a far more bloody and violent fashion and only came on when she felt as if she were being personally threatened and from the look in her eyes the Gangrel Primogen was making her feel that way. As she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair the movement's seemed to be shaky, rattled, and off somehow but Jack once again wrote that up to all that she had recently been through.

Lifting her head and eyeing a camera Shayne narrowed her eyes before she pushed herself up onto a brick that was sticking out and looked into the lens. "Alright Mitnick parties over you can stop watching the show and help now." She dropped back down to the ground and then sighed. Going back through the service door that lead into an office was no good, that part of the sewer had been sealed off since the attack on the sewer work and the officals in Hollywood had pushed it all underneath the rug so to speak.

Suddenly she wished that she hadn't had that thought about it being sealed off and their being no way out except the hard way because Shayne had decided a long time ago that she didn't want to run the Warren's a second time it was why she risked being bitten by zombies to go talk to Gary. Not to mention that feeling of being claustrophobic was starting to kick in and if she didn't move soon chances where she was going to loose her mind or worse. Yes there were worse things to Shayne than actually looking her mind, as she had a deep seated fear of mortality or well in this case dying a second time. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity Fuck." Shayne muttered as she lit a cigarette and ran her fingers through her hair. This was bad, and it was starting to get a hell of a lot worse. "Problem."

Nines hated when she said things that way, he really did be cause now instead of looking tired she looked frazzled and wired for sound. "What's the problem."

It was the look that she gave before the suggestion of using explosives was made.

"_Brains. Brains._"

"What the hell is this shit," Jack said and then stopped when something grabbed his arm making a clumsy dive for his head. "Hey Kiddo you forgot mention the zombies."

"Yeah well they aren't exactly a part of the normal plan," Shayne said and now she realized what Gary had wanted to tell her, some of the zombies must have invaded the Warrens somehow and now they were trapped, unable to get back up and unable to go into the city's main sewer system. "The problem is that were walled in down here, city shut off the older parts of the sewer from the newer parts and the only way out is through the Nosferatu's Chambers, not to mention the zombie party pack that got added into the mix." She called back to Nines as she reached for the McLusky that was holstered on her thigh. "Head shots, if your dead on they die a hell of a lot faster and bite a lot less."

In a torrent of bullets, rotting flesh, blood, and a barrage of cussing the zombies that had been brave enough to venture forward were laying in lifeless heaps in the small area of the sewer. At this moment and time Nines could only imagine that their had to have been more of them or their was worse to come, and while he wouldn't say they scared him as much as what werewolves did he could honestly say that they were on his list of things to dislike. As he looked to the side making sure that Mercurio was in fact alright he noticed that Julian seemed to be nursing a wound on his arm, though it wasn't anything to really be all that concerned about as well he was Kindred and he would heal.

Instead he reached out dropping his arm down over Shayne's shoulders before he looked between she and Skelter for a few moments, trying to decide what if anything he wanted to say about the matter. In that instance they were faced with two options, parting ways with the Camarilla visitors or sticking with them. Looking back once more when Jack joined them Nines finally started to speak, keeping his voice barely at a whisper as he did so. "How hard is it to get to the Nosferatu Chambers?"

Shayne lifted her head as she flicked the ash from her cigarette on the ground. "On a scale of one to ten were looking at about an eight, and chances are unless we want to leave someone behind Mercurio won't make it unless we plan ahead with things," she explained as she looked over at Jack. "You alright?"

He nodded his head his eyes turning back to the ghoul in question before he sighed. "Alright so what's the strategy for planning ahead?"

"It's linear on this level, I mean there isn't much of a problem getting where we need to be until the end. Even that I'm not really worried about all that much, it's the second part and the attempting to get through to the reservoir that I worry with. He can't hold his breath for that long and to make sure he survives one of us will have to be left behind." She knew what it was going to come through but she had made the run once before and she was positive that she could do it a second time if she needed to. "Alright here's what were going to do with this and don't argue with me, I'm a big girl. I don't make to guide you someone will know and they'll come find you. This is just Gary and Mitnick's perverse sense of amusement kicking in at the moment."

**The Last Round  
Downtown LA**

Damsel paced back and forth as she waited to hear something, anything at all but as the hours ticked by she was starting to wonder what had happened. Isaac had heard nothing at all in fact he hadn't even known that Shayne was in the area, which was unusual as she always tended to drop by and talk to the Hollywood Baron. Furrowing her brow she reached up and pulled her hat from head before she looked around, true enough she could have left the safety of The Last Round and gone looking for them but she couldn't leave the kiddies alone and she didn't want the rumors that Nines or Skelter were missing to start floating around. No it was much better to remain where she was and to pretend as if nothing at all was wrong less it started a panic.

**The Warrens Level One**

"Can we trust you, I mean after what happened with LaCroix how do we know that you aren't going to kill us too when you get the chance," Cash asked as he followed behind Shayne and narrowed his eyes at her. It was hard to explain, eight hours ago he had missed his ex terribly and would have liked nothing better than to whisk her back to San Francisco, pledge his undying love quiet literally and embrace her into the Gangrel clan, in fact he had been planning just that but now all he could think about was the fact he wanted to rip her throat out. "Are you even listening to me?"

She was but she wasn't, if they kept moving they covered more ground and rehashing the past was only going to slow her down given the fact that Shayne was already moving slowly enough as it was. Answering him would only result in Cash wanting to engage her in even more conversation than he already had, which was bad, honestly the young Brujah would have much rather talked about the weather or anything else. Shayne had made a tidy business of keeping people at bay and she liked the idea of it remaining that way, though it was harder and harder to do as her undead self didn't want to be alone or on the cusp for all of eternity.

Stopping as she tried to figure out just which way it was that she was supposed to be going now, Shayne held up her hand and then looked over at Cash before she groaned. "Damn it to hell, still have that gun I gave you," she asked watching as the languid moving shadows appeared to be making their way toward them slowly but surely. "Cause if not when and if you make it through the Warrens I'm going to kick your ass and if you die well alright I'm still going to laugh but I'll mourn for my gun," Shayne offered keeping her voice down before she nodded her head.

"Holy shit, what the hell is going on down here." Cash questioned as he heard the first squeak followd by another."Are those rats?"

She swallowed hard trying to decided if they were larger than normal zombie rats or if they were something else when a quick look toward the visiting Gangrel Primogen told her she had been right. "I was hoping I was just seeing things and those weren't rats to be frank," Shayne replied before she shook her head and then muttered something under her breath.

Cash had to agree with her, he had been hoping that her answer was going to be no they weren't giant zombie rats and then tell him to stop trying to talk to her, instead she was eerily calm and it was a reminder of the night they had broken up. She had been calm, even tempered and when she had walked out as much as he had hoped for it Shayne had never looked back. Then again what had he expected, underneath the beaten exterior and the crass tone of her voice Shayne was if nothing else Hollywood elite and royalty not meant to be toyed or played with. Yeah see this was the wild kind of effect she could have on people, he was facing down nasty rats in a sewer somewhere underneath what he assumed to still be Hollywood and he was having thought about how nice she looked in those jeans; where the hell was his head. Granted he was really beginning to wonder if they were going to make it out of there alive between the zombies, the rats, the whiney from the ghoul behind them, and the fact they seemed to have lost the rest of their party sometime ago. In all honesty they hadn't lost them at all, Shayne had simply gone ahead to scout for trouble rather than leaving the others to come into it head on which now she was extremely glad that she had although something didn't seem right with this.

"Their backing off."

"Of course they are, their ghoul rats."

"Barrabus!"

Never had Cash seen someone wrapped so tightly around a member of the Nosferatu clan before but Shayne seemed to have attached herself to the gnarled looking man with not signs of letting go. The Nosferatu didn't seem to mind the attention either and so long as he was keeping the rats at bay than Cash didn't care how long he was standing there though the closer that he listened to the conversation going on around him the more he started to realize that the Nosferatu was there to offer them a faster way out of the death trap they were presently in. This of course meant that he might be able to talk to Shayne alone and convince her that she could come back with him, rather than playing with the Anarchs since Cash felt that would be causing her nothing at all but trouble. Sooner or later they would turn on her, they turned on everyone that they didn't deem to be worthy and he doubted that Shayne could be as blood thirsty as what they wanted her to be.

"I'll show you another way out of here but you have to stay close," Barrabus began as he heard the other voices and then sighed. "I take it you aren't just down here for the fun of it, want to tell me what happened?"

Shayne shrugged her shoulders before she shook her head slightly and then returned the sigh that had been given. "Well there was an incident with the Sabbat and King's Way was destroyed when the sun went down tonight, but before that we didn't have enough daylight left to make it into the city and find somewhere safe so we took the sewer system." She paused. "Where are the zombies coming from Barrabus, I mean I don't recall them being a part of the security system."

It was then that Barrabus looked around at the others that had joined them before he turned his attention back to Shayne and shook his head. "Were not sure, all we know is that they hit the access tunnels closer to Chinatown and now we can't seem to get rid of them no matter how hard we try." He explained before he reached up running his fingers through the twisted strands of hair that were left on his head. "We assumed them to be coming from the cemetery in Hollywood."

"If they came from the sewer though wouldn't that mean they had to escape from it Kiddo," Jack countered narrowing his eyes at what he called the sewer rat before he looked back at Shayne who was shaking her head. "What's wrong with you?"

A part of her wanted to think that she was wrong while the other part of her was certain with the statement that they seemed to have entered the sewer system closer into Chinatown that this was going to lead by to the Giovanni. Unfortunately Shayne was pretty sure after she wrecked their party, caused a shit load of trouble , borrowed their book, and then oh yeah stole their prized sarcophagus she wasn't going to be all that welcomed there. However there was a chance that someone had raided the Giovanni mansion and having seen what lurked inside there the statement about making Allistar Crowley blush was true. Looking back at Barrabus for a few second Shayne was trying to find some sort of deception in what he said, after all if Gary had made another deal with the Giovanni like he had with the Sarcophagus he had to have known Zombie weren't exactly the greatest line of defense especially not in such small amounts or there was the alternative theory that the Giovanni thought the Nosferatu stole the sarcophagus and sending zombies into their safe haven after the exits had been sealed was a way to flush them out. On the one hand Mira owed her a favor for the work that Shayne had done for her, and on the other hand she wasn't sure Mira had been given the kiss and she was pretty sure that Bruno Giovanni wanted her dead.

**The Last Round  
****Downtown, LA**

"Wait. Wait. Wait." Damsel looked down at the phone in her hand wondering if she was hearing this right. "I got the part about a flaming Lasombra, I got the part about Zombies in the sewers, but can you go back to that part about Luna and his war dog?"

"When Skelter and I came to Luna was locked in a metal cage across from us, as of right now he's attempting to offer his help to Jack and Shayne and from the looks of it one of them might slit his throat." Nines replied, he could hear Damsel grinding her fangs on the other end of the line and he had to admit that he thought it was a little funny. "Aside from that were fine, although I need you to keep an eye on The Last Round for a little bit longer. Kid want's to take a trip to the Giovanni mansion and I don't want her going alone."

Damsel nodded her head thought Nines couldn't see or hear that before she stopped. "Why can't she go alone, what aren't you telling me? Nines Rodriguez if you hang up that phone before you tell me what happened I will make you wish the Lasombra still had you."

"When I said a flaming Lasombra I might not have mentioned that she was attacked by it, and that she was the one that lit it on fire in the first place," he explained before he sighed and waited for the yelling to start. Damsel didn't want to admit it but she had a heart and when it came to being the den mother she was good at it a little too good. "She's fine though, pissed about the war dog but she seems to be dealing through that."

"When we say dealing through that you have checked to make sure she doesn't have explosives right, because while I'm all for lighting a fire under the Cam's ass I'm not sure doing it in Chinatown would be a good idea."

"Chinatown is clean, it's being run by the Nosferatu ever since Xiao was knocked out of her golden temple." Nines replied before he looked back over his shoulder and then lifted an eyebrow, he didn't know where the car had come from but he wasn't going to question it. "I'll call you when were done with the Giovanni."

Damsel was still talking when she heard the distinct click of the phone being hung up and for a few moments she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh hysterically or she wanted to punch a wall just to see if she could make the house of cards fall down. Whatever was going on Cammy had gotten the scent of it and she would chase every lead that she could until she found the answer, that was just the way that she was. The nature of the beast so to speak but it didn't mean that Damsel had to like it, she had her own theory on the Fledgling as some of the other boys called and her and Damsel worried that at times it was taken for granted she'd never had a sire, barely knew the basics, and survived because she did what came naturally to her instead of what she had been taught to do. She worried that it was going to be the end of the kindred she had come to think of as a friend, but like with much else there would come a lull and Damsel had already decided that she would take that chance to talk to Shayne about the Kindred birds and bee's so to speak. Until then she was stuck leaving the poor Fledgling with the Boys Club and hoping that it dawned on them that she still had a lot to learn.

**Outside the Fu Syndicate  
Chinatown**

"You know I could just go into the Giovanni mansion and see if there's anything that pops up," Barrabus said though he couldn't be seen. Shayne rolled her eyes before she reached over and poked the air beside of her and then laughed.

"Yeah because their not going to smell the stench of sewer on you Barrabus, no it's better to let myself and someone else go and you wait outside incase I need a quick exit and a distraction. Since see what I didn't tell you guys was that when I took the sarcophagus and brought it back to LaCroix, I took it from the Giovanni and their might have been an incident with someone dying, entirely not my fault of course but she died none the less. Oh yeah and I kind of might have borrowed this ancient tome from them and given it to a flesh eating vampire that was living in the abandon hospital downtown." She gave a fangy smile before she turned and looked toward the car as a second car pulled up beside it. "So how do you want to do this Nines?"

For a few moments silence drifted through the small group and Nines had to think about that, his original plan was to go along with Shayne but now he had to wonder what it was that Luna was there in the first place. "You and Mercurio go to the Giovanni mansion and see what's going on with that, I'll go with Luna and his Gangrel and see what's their up to and Skelter can go back and keep Damsel from peeling the walls off The Last Round."

"Take Mercurio with you, I'll take Ash with me. Toreador have a way of playing people and that might not be a bad thing to have right now." Shayne replied as she looked between Skelter and Mercurio suddenly wondering where it was that Jack had disappeared too, but then she realized that he was of course Jack and he would reappear when he wanted too. "Barrabus, can check to see if the Tong have heard anything and then meet us at the Mansion," she offered turning to look at where she was certain the Nosferatu should have been standing.

"I'll see if they have anything going on, but because going back up there to the Giovanni they might not be thrilled to see you after your last visit," Barrabus warned before he truly disappeared away from the other.

Dangerous yes, Shayne knew the risk of going back there an she knew that her reception might not be a very welcomed one but she also knew if the zombies hadn't come from the sewer system in Hollywood there was only one other place that she could think of them having come from. Shaking her head at the ominous warning she at times wondered why she relied so much on the Nosferatu, they were touchy, they were moody, well alright so that explained that given the fact that so was she to a certain extent. Her greatest fear was that Cash would start talking and the truth would come out before she had a chance to really explain it, which was that in life she hadn't been the most stable of people. Shayne would go for months on end where no one would see her and then would snap out of whatever mood she was in and suddenly everything was perfectly alright until the next time that it happened. Cash had seen her at her absolute worst, he'd dealt with what she was like and he knew exactly why she dealt with the world around her the way that she did. However she was still pissed off at him and she probably would remain so until the day she died or died a second and final time. However she didn't want him blabbing things that didn't need to be talked about to the world around him, narrowing her eyes as she looked over at the Gangrel Primogen, Shayne furrowed her brow before she jerked her head around giving the same look to Ash Rivers as he approached. Ash pulled the bag off his shoulder and tossed it toward Shayne before he shook his head.

"Your not going to change right out here are you?" He asked but it appeared that it had fallen on deaf ears as she had already walked off with the ghoul toward his own car only to reappear a few moments later re-dressed and looking like she had nothing to hide. "Alright so what no weapons."

"She's strapped trust me," Mercurio responded before he looked down at the smaller brunette and perked an eyebrow. "Sure you don't want me to tag along?"

"I'm good I have enough fire power to take down to truck loads of Giovanni if it comes down to it which I doubt that it will, so no I want you to go with Nines and make sure that our guest make it home safely."

"Alright." Mercurio took it for what it was worth and he got the under lining meaning of the fact that Shayne wanted him where he could hear everything and report back to her when it was all said and done, and he had to respect that part of it. However he worried that this fell somewhere between stepping into the spiders parlor and dragging yourself into the zombie filled lion's den. "Where are you going after?"

Shayne shrugged her shoulders before she shook her head. "More than likely The Last Round depending on the time, if not I'll be there when the sun goes down tomorrow night." She said and then cleared her throat. "Watch what they say Mercurio and don't trust them, most of all don't trust Luna." It was with that that she turned and gave one last warning glance to the Gangrel Primogen before she looked back at Nines and offered him a half hearted smile. Shayne was almost positive that Julian Luna's presence in the city was a bad omen for things to come and she was just hoping that for the first time in a long time her gut instincts were wrong and that Josiah really had just found him in Manzanita but all the evidence and signs pointed to otherwise."Alright Ash let's go crash a party with the Giovanni and see if they have any idea what's going on."

Nines watched as they started for the car waiting until Ash was already inside he called out. "Be careful Kid." Turning he looked back to notice that Skelter had already left and that both Luna and his Gangrel were now looking a little nervous being left along with just Nines himself and a ghoul that obviously would have had no problem in killing them if he had too. "Alright let's go where burning daylight and were only taking them do far."


End file.
